© EuroFootball.com
"Fighting in the Intertoto Cup, Vilnius started the fourth stage with a defeat. In the first semifinal match at home, the capital's team lost 1-2 to the "Ecomax" club from Romania, which seems unbeatable to the Lithuanians - this opponent was defeated twice in the first stage by the other Vilnius club "Vėtra".
"Žalgiris" 1 - 2 "Ecomax" 36' [0 - 1] Cristian Dan 75' [1 - 1] Aleksandr Osipovič 79' [1 - 2] Adrian Anca
At the beginning of the match, both teams played cautiously and did not create any dangerous opportunities, the game was tough on the pitch and the football players had to spend a lot of time on the ground recovering from injuries.
After playing for fifteen minutes, V.Lemežis had an opportunity, but he took too long to prepare for the shot and the defenders managed to eliminate the danger. After half an hour, "Ecomax" scored a goal, but it was disallowed because the ball had already gone out of bounds.
The visitors took the lead in the 36th minute - C. Danas found himself in the penalty area and sent the ball into the net from about 13 meters. The teams went for a break with the scoreboard showing Romania's dominance.
The second half started with attacks from Žalgiris - first after a corner, T. Gražiūnas’ header was saved by the goalkeeper, and later the ball along with the goalkeeper ended up in the Romanian goal, but in this episode a player from the Vilnius team committed a foul.
Žalgiris tried to continue attacking and gaps appeared in the defense - a Romanian player broke free one-on-one against M. Malinauskas, but he let the ball go too far ahead and Mikuckis managed to return to the defense and clear the ball from an open goal. Shortly after, in one attack, "Ecomax" repeatedly shot at Vilnius' goal and the hosts managed to defend due to luck and the efforts of the goalkeeper and defender working together.
Midway through the half, A.Osipovičius' goal after a pass from the flank was disallowed due to offside, but Žalgiris played similarly again after ten minutes, this time without any rule violation, and receiving the ball from Maksimovic and fooling the goalkeeper, Osipovičius equalized the score.
However, "Ecomax" soon managed to restore the lead - a penalty was awarded for a foul in the penalty area against "Žalgiris", and although Malinauskas managed to block it, he could not stop A.Anca, who rushed to the ball and scored from close range.
At the end of the match, the hosts launched a final attack, but Osipovičius, who jumped ahead of the goalkeeper, failed to control the ball, wasted his chances, and the Romanians. "Žalgiris" lost, so they have a very difficult task ahead of the return match away.
