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Vilnius "Žalgiris" took a strong step towards the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. On Thursday in Vilnius, Marek Zubo's students defeated Yerevan's "Pyunik" 2-0, gaining a solid advantage before their trip to the Armenian capital next week.
Vilnius "Žalgiris" 2 - 0 Yerevan "Pyunik"
47' [1 - 0] K.Bilinski
66' [2 - 0] R.Leliūga
"Žalgiris": A.Vitkauskas; A.Skerla, L.Perič, A.Švrljuga, E.Vaitkūnas; M.Kuklys, V.Šilėnas, A.Žulpa (68' P.Janušauskas), P.Komolov (82' G.Freidgeimas), R.Leliūga (74' E.Zagurskas); K.Bilinski;
Pyunik: G.Manukyan; T.Voskanynan, V.Hardyan, A.Hovhannisyan, V.Minasyan; G.Poghosyan (69' Ayvazyan), A.Yuspashyan, D.Manoyan; G.Poghosyan (81' Zakaryan), A.Sardarian (46' Hovhannisyan), A.Papikyan;
It seems that the people of Vilnius are eager for international competitions: the LFF stadium, which can hold more than 5 thousand spectators, will be almost full.
Although at the beginning of the match the "Pyunik" players, whose average age is about 21, did not seem lost, the players of Žalgiris gradually took the initiative.
In the first half, "Žalgiris" had at least two real chances to break through, but one of them, Kamil Bilinski, who jumped in front of the goalkeeper, missed the shot, and a little later he failed to direct the rebounded ball into the goal.
However, the breakthrough came just after the break, when the "Pyunik" defenders made a mistake and the hosts launched a quick attack, which was finished with a precise shot from a sharp angle by Bilinski. Guests found it increasingly difficult to approach the "Žalgiris" goal, and Zubo's team was clearly not satisfied with the minimum victory.
Finally, the second goal fell: after a few accurate passes, Rytis Leliūga, who was very active in the second half, sent the ball into the net.
During the remaining time, the guests tried to score an important goal, but the Žalgiris players defended themselves and received congratulatory cheers from the enthusiastic crowd with a convincing victory.
