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In the Lithuanian A Lyga championship on Saturday, the 24th round of matches took place. "Nevėžis" secured their fourth point in the championship by not falling to the crisis and drawing with "Atlantas". "Šiauliai" crushed "Šilutė" at home, while leaders "Ekranas" and "Kaunas" secured easy victories. The battle for fourth place between "Vilnius" and "Sūduva" ended in a draw.
Playing at home, Klaipėda's "Atlantas" hosted league underdog Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis" and bolstered their ranks with legionnaire I. Vasiljev. The first half did not go well for the home team as "Nevėžis" unexpectedly took the lead in the 24th minute with a curious goal scored by V. Stankevičius.
At the beginning of the second half, M. Bezykornovas equalized the score, and even though D. Žernys scored a penalty in the 70th minute, it seemed like "Atlantas" would secure a victory. However, "Nevėžis" did not give up, and shortly after, V. Stankevičius equalized the score again, helping his team secure the fourth point of the season.
The reigning champions, Panevėžys' "Ekranas," secured a resounding victory at home against Vilnius' "Žalgiris," who welcomed back legionnaire A. Šilo to their lineup. M. Savėnas once again became the top scorer of the league by scoring two goals, including one from the penalty spot, while P. Lukšys added another goal.
"Kaunas" also had an easy victory, avenging their loss in the fifth round and defeating Vilnius' "Vėtra" by a margin of three goals. A. Klimekas from Poland scored two goals, and A. Rimkevičius added one.
"Sūduva" maintained fourth place, playing to a draw away against Vilnius' team lower in the standings. The visitors took the lead with a goal from D. Artiomovas in the 27th minute, but A. Jeršovas equalized the score before the end of the match, leaving both teams separated by just one point.
Another loss was suffered by "Šiauliai," who had to acknowledge the overwhelming advantage of "Šilutė" in front of their home crowd. Players from Šilutė, including T. Kijanskas, A. Khubutia, G. Juška, and G. Vičius, all scored, while E. Varnas scored a consolation goal for the home team.
The matches in Šiauliai started off evenly, with both teams fighting hard for control, but within 15 minutes, Šilutė's Tadas Kijanskas scored a penalty from about 20 meters, beating the home team's goalkeeper, Vaidas Žutautas.
Shortly after, Šiauliai made mistakes, allowing the visitors to score again. At the beginning of the second half, the Šilutė's legionnaire from Georgia, Akaki Khubutia, doubled the lead before G. Juška and G. Vičius added two more goals, securing a convincing victory.
After the match, Šilutė's assistant coach credited the team's discipline for the victory, while Šiauliai's head coach Vytas Jančiauskas attributed the painful loss to various factors, including missing key players and lackluster performance from returning players.
Tables:
Match Statistics:
Kaunas Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, 852 spectators Referee - Antanas Rubys 3 - 0 11' [1 - 0] Artūras Rimkevičius 77' [2 - 0] Arkadiusz Klimek 82' [3 - 0] Arkadiusz Klimek
"Kaunas": Kurskis; Zelmikas, Kančelskis, Žaliūkas, Manchkava; Kvaratskhelia, Papečkys, Poderis (77' Petrenko), Pehlič (46' Barevičius); Rimkevičius (79' Pilibaitis), Klimek
"Vėtra": Merkelis; Sasnauskas, Raliukonis, Žudys, I.Steško; Babravičius (46' Rinkus), A.Steško (74' Vaineikis), Butrimavičius, Preikšaitis; Kochanauskas, Vasiliauskas (76' Litvinas)
Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium, 1020 spectators Referee - Vijūnas Vasiliauskas 4 - 0 18' [1 - 0] Mantas Savėnas 74' [2 - 0] Povilas Lukšys 77' [3 - 0] Mantas Savėnas (penalty) 87' [4 - 0] Mantas Savėnas (penalty)
87' Artūras Kilikevičius ("Žalgiris") sent off
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Klimavičius, Banevičius, Paulauskas, Skroblas; Savėnas, Tomkevičius, Gardzijauskas (83' Mykolaitis), Kavolis (67' Galkevičius); Kavaliauskas (77' Saulėnas), Lukšys
"Žalgiris": Malinauskas; Paknys (80' Sorokinas), Žekonis, Kilikevičius, Tereškinas; Maksimovič (82' Kaušpadas), Jasaitis (71' Šilo), Lemežis, Jokšas; Morinas, Osipovič
1 - 1 27' [0 - 1] Darius Artiomovas (own goal) 79' [1 - 1] Artūras Jeršovas
Klaipėda "Žalgiris" Stadium, 410 spectators Referee - Marijus Jazbutis 2 - 2 24' [0 - 1] Vitalis Stankevičius 49' [1 - 1] Marius Bezykornovas 70' [2 - 1] Dainius Žernys (penalty) 74' [2 - 2] Vitalis Stankevičius
"Atlantas": Maksvytis; Regelskis, Gnedojus, Tautvydas (46' Lapeikis), Navikas; Žernys, Bezykornovas, Petreikis (69' Grigaitis), Vasiljev; Kšanavičius, Laurišas
"Nevėžis": Jazokas; Rabikauskas, Klimakovas (71' Vaškūnas), Kvitatiani, Slepakovas (64' Januševskis); Juknevičius, Adomaitis, Kestenis (87' Sruogis), Činikas; Popovas, Stankevičius
1 - 4 15' [0 - 1] Tadas Kijanskas 30' [0 - 2] Akaki Khubutia 48' [0 - 3] Gvidas Juška (penalty) 57' [0 - 4] Gediminas Vičius 78' [1 - 4] Egidijus Varnas (penalty)
