© EuroFootball.com
On a gloomy Saturday in Lithuania, the last matches of the "SMScredit.lt A league" 32nd round were played, revealing the new champion of the 2013 season.
On the golden LFF stadium, the supported by their fans Vilnius "Žalgiris" fought against the determined Marijampolė "Sūduva". Fate's irony - that's how we can call this match, as the capital team lost with a score of 1-3, but the draw of "Atlantas" decided the champions title.
The first half started with dominance of the hosts. In the 8th minute, the first dangerous episode was created near the Marijampolė goal, with Serge Nyuiazi being the author.
Soon after, another danger arose for "Sūduva" near the same goal. After a precise pass, Kamil Bilinskis struck near the post.
In the 22nd minute, Pavel Komolovas had the best opportunity in these matches to put the Vilnius team ahead. K.Bilinskis lifted the ball towards the opponents' goal and the Russian headed the ball straight into the goalkeeper.
However, after threatening attacks by Mareko Zubo's players, the guests managed to unexpectedly break out. In the 41st minute, Povilas Kiselevskis scored the first goal of the match.
The second half started with a great game from the Marijampolė team. In the 49th minute, Karolis Chvedukas doubled the score, and after about 20 more minutes Andrius Brokas sent "Žalgiris" into total defeat, scoring the third goal into the opponents' net.
However, shortly after, Mantas Kuklys from the penalty spot softened the score, but this goal did not determine the victory, yet the "Žalgiris" team still became the Lithuanian champions in the last round.
The last time "Žalgiris" triumphed in the A league was in the 1998-1999 season. At that time, there were a total of 13 teams in the championship, and also the current teams of Panevėžys "Ekranas", Alytus "Dainava", Klaipėda "Atlantas" and Gargždai "Banga" played there.
Klaipėda "Atlantas" had a great opportunity to postpone the battle for the first place to Tuesday in front of its fans, but in the Western derby, Gargždai "Banga" players managed to grab the draw.
The first to strike were now the Lithuanian vice-champions, when Evaldas Razulis scored from the penalty spot, but Aurelijus Staponka's goal crushed the hopes of the Russian-led club to win the gold.
Meanwhile, "Sūduva" failed to win the third place and a ticket to the Europa League qualifiers, even though they defeated the champions themselves, but at the end of the Panevėžys "Ekranas" match against Tauragės "Tauras", they won and left the Suvalkija team behind.
All results:
Vilnius "Žalgiris" 1 - 3 Marijampolė "Sūduva" 41‘ [0 - 1] P.Kiselevskis 49‘ [0 - 2] K.Chvedukas 71‘ [0 - 3] A.Brokas 77‘ [1 - 3] M.Kuklys (penalty)
Klaipėda "Atlantas" 1 - 1 Gargždai "Banga" 13‘ [1 - 0] E.Razulus (penalty) 83‘ [1 - 1] A.Staponka
"Šiauliai" 2 - 5 Pakruojo "Kruoja" 14‘ [0 - 1] D.Strockis 28‘ [0 - 2] D.Strockis 35‘ [1 - 2] T.Birškys 66‘ [1 - 3] N.Mačiulis 74‘ [2 - 3] N.Tokič 81‘ [2 - 4] G.Slavickas 84‘ [2 - 5] R.Beniušis (penalty)
Tauragės "Tauras" 0 - 1 Panevėžio "Ekranas" 90‘ [0 - 1] V.Slavickas
Review of the A league season:
UEFA Champions League qualifiers: Vilnius "Žalgiris" UEFA Europa League qualifiers: Klaipėda "Atlantas" and Panevėžys "Ekranas" Top scorers: Nerijos Valskis (27 goals), Kamil Bilinskis (21) and Evaldas Razulis (21) Assists leaders: Mantas Kuklys (13), Marius Papšys (9) and Jakubas Wilkas (9) Most cautioned players: Petaras Bačičius (10), Rytis Pilotas (8), Rokas Borusas (8) and Maksimas Lukaševičius (8)
Final standings:
