© EuroFootball.com
On a gloomy Saturday in Lithuania, two matches of the 35th round of the "SMScredit.lt A League" took place, which could have been crucial for the team from the Golden Capital.
The local "Banga" faced off against Vilnius' "Žalgiris" at the Gargždai city stadium. The victory slipped through the fingers of Marek Zubo's players, who still have not secured the title of champions.
In the first half, the advantage was with the guests from Vilnius, although at the beginning of the match the home team seemed more aggressive, later on the vice champions of the country began to press the opponents.
In the 27th minute, the first goal fell into the net of "Banga". After a great pass from Mantas Kuklys into the penalty area, Georgas Freidgeimas scored with his head.
The second half started with active attacks from the hosts towards the goal defended by the "Žalgiris" players, but they couldn't equalize the score, and the Vilnius team continued to defend disciplined.
However, in the 62nd minute, a penalty kick was awarded near the goal defended by Armantas Vitkauskas. The striker Evaldas Grigaitis successfully converted it soon after.
In the 74th minute, an interesting episode took place when Gargždai player Aleksandras Ivanauskas was sent off the field with a yellow card, and Vilnius player Luka Peričius, who demanded a harsher punishment, was then shown a red card and also sent off.
Neither team managed to score any more goals during the remaining time, so "Žalgiris" have now failed to secure the first place in the A League for the third time in a row.
This victory would have guaranteed the first place in this season's Lithuanian championship for the Vilnius team. In the second place would have stayed the team of Klaipėda's "Atlantas", which still has the opportunity to take the first place. If the team from the port city wins the remaining two matches and "Žalgiris" loses the next ones - the champions will be the team from Klaipėda.
In other matches, Panevėžys' "Ekranas" grappled with "Šauliai" in front of their own fans. The home team secured a convincing victory with a score of 3-1.
Results:
Gargždai "Banga" 1 - 1 Vilnius "Žalgiris" 27‘ [0 - 1] G.Freidgeimas 63‘ [1 - 1] E.Grigaitis 74‘ A.Ivanauskas ("Banga") sent off the field 75‘ L.Peričius ("Žalgiris") sent off the field
Panevėžys "Ekranas" 3 - 1 "Šiauliai" 5‘ [1 - 0] M.Andelkovič 11‘ [1 - 1]E.Pšelenskis 18‘ [2 - 1] D.Djenič 45‘ [3 - 1] A.Buinickij
Standings:
