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Lithuania's national team suffered their second defeat in a week and practically no longer have hopes of fighting for second place in the World Cup qualifying group. On Wednesday, Lithuania's footballers finished the tenth match, despite having the initiative throughout the game, at the Vilnius "Vėtra" stadium had to admit the minimal advantage of the Bosnia and Herzegovina team.
Lithuania 0 - 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina 29' [0 - 1] Sergej Barbarez 75' Deividas Česnauskis sent off
Lithuania: Karčemarskas; Stankevičius, Žvirgždauskas, Džiaukštas, Skarbalius (46' Savėnas); D.Česnauskis (66' Mikoliūnas), Šemberas, Danilevičius, E.Česnauskis; Poškus, Jankauskas
The Lithuanians started the meeting by taking the initiative immediately and attacking the opponents' goal - at first, the Bosnian goalkeeper K.Hasagič caught a weak shot from R.Džiaukštas, later T.Danilevičius hit the post from the penalty area. In the eighth minute E.Česnauskis had a good chance to break into the penalty area, but his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Later the game calmed down a bit as the Lithuanians failed to get closer to the opponent's goal, while Bosnia played on counterattacks, and their strategy worked - in the 29th minute after a corner kick from the right side, the Bosnian captain S.Barbarez headed the ball into the goal. scoring a goal with what was perhaps his team's first shot.
After missing the goal painfully, the Lithuanians were a bit shaken, and their game was a bit off. Towards the end of the half, R.Poškus threatened the Bosnian goal, but his attempt from the penalty area once again did not cause any problems for the goalkeeper. The first half ended with the visitors leading 1-0.
After the break, Lithuania's national team coach A.Liubinskas decided to put all efforts into attack and replaced defender A.Skarbalius with attacking midfielder M.Savėnas. The latter immediately joined the game and tried to make an impact, but his shot from about 14 meters went over the crossbar, while on the other side, the Bosnians responded with an inaccurate attempt.
In the 55th minute, the excellent opportunity was missed by defender T.Žvirgždauskas who, from a couple of meters after a corner kick, somehow managed to shoot over the goal, while a minute later T.Danilevičius' attempt to shoot without stopping the ball ended unsuccessfully as the ball flew wide.
After playing the hour, the Bosnians had a rare opportunity - S.Papačo's headed shot was off target. The hosts tried to attack from a distance, but R.Poškus and M.Savėnas' shots were caught by the Bosnian goalkeeper, Danilevičius also sent the ball high over the goal. but a moment later, in a dangerous counterattack by the visitors, one-on-one against the goalkeeper, a Bosnian player missed the target.
The tension grew, and the referee began to show cards one after the other. For a while, the referee V.Kassajus was only showing yellow cards, but in the 75th minute, he decided to give a red card to E.Česnauskis and send him off the field
to further complicate the situation for the Lithuanian national team. Right after that, the Bosnians had a good opportunity following a breakthrough on the right flank, but Ž.Karčemarskas managed to kick the ball away with his feet.
With ten minutes left, after a great combination, S.Mikoliūnas found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but before he could shoot, the defender of Bosnia managed to clear the ball from his feet. the goalkeeping by Bosnia and Herzegovina continued, but in the last minutes, T.Žvirgždauskas and E.Jankauskas' shots flew wide.
Exhausting all their efforts in attack during the added time, the visitors did not take advantage of a very good opportunity to double the score, when a Bosnian found himself one-on-one with Ž.Karčemarskas managed to confuse the goalkeeper, but his shot from the goal line was cleared by D.Šemberas. However, this was small consolation - the Lithuanian national team still had to admit the opponents' superiority.
Player ratings for the Lithuanian national team:
Žydrūnas Karčemarskas - 6.5 Not to blame for the first goal, played reliably and helped prevent a bigger defeat
Aurelijus Skarbalius - 5.5 It was difficult for the team's most experienced player to deal with faster opponents
Rolandas Džiaukštas - 5 Unreliable during the goal, and didn't fare well in attack
Tomas Žvirgždauskas - 5 Failed to capitalize on a hundred percent chance
Marius Stankevičius - 6.5 Unbeatable in defense, but lacked stability in passing the ball
Edgaras Česnauskis - 5.5 He tried his best, but did not take advantage of a good opportunity to score and earned a red card
Deividas Šemberas - 6 Reliably played in defense, but maybe lacked some activity in attack
Tomas Danilevičius - 5 Often ended attacks with shots off target
Deividas Česnauskis - 5 Another disappointing game
Robertas Poškus - 6.5 As always, did a lot of dirty work and constantly posed a threat to the opponents' defenders
Edgaras Jankauskas - 5.5 Was carefully guarded and barely had chances to score
Mantas Savėnas - 6 Entering the field after substitution livened up the team's play in attack
Saulius Mikoliūnas - 5.5 Not very noticeable
