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After a two-week break from the national team competitions, battles in the Lithuanian "A Lyga" championship continued on Saturday. In the last, 27th, round of the third round, there were no surprises - "Šilutė" defeated "Vėtra" who were in third place at home, "Vilnius" crushed "Atlantas" with a significant lead, "Sūduva" defeated "Žalgiris", while the leaders of the championship "Ekranas" and "Kaunas" both secured victories once again.
Last year's bronze medalist Klaipėda's "Atlantas" still can't seem to break from the crisis and suffered a defeat with a three-goal margin for the second time this season. The team from the port city was convincingly beaten by "Vilnius", who took the lead after just 19 minutes with goals from young players A.Buinickio and A.Jeršovo.
The result was softened by M.Bezykornovas in the 20th minute, but in the 70th minute, D.Navikas, who received a red card, ultimately dashed the hopes of A.Lekevičiaus' team. Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, the Vilnius team scored two more goals at the end of the match and improved their season's scoring record, as they had only scored 20 times in 25 matches so far.
Vilnius "Vėtra" failed to win for the fourth consecutive time, this time they had to admit defeat to "Šilutė" at home. The hosts took the lead after a quick goal from K.Ivaškevičius, and although Š.Litvinas soon equalized the score, G.Vičius restored the advantage at the start of the second half, and M.Grigalevičius sealed the victory for the Šilutė team in the final minute.
The season of Vilnius "Žalgiris" continues to be turbulent. Sitting in eighth place and having several matches in reserve, the team from Žalgiris had a nervy encounter with "Sūduva" in Marijampolė, where they were defeated. The winning goals were scored by D.Maciulevičius in the final minutes of the first and second halves from the penalty spot, and T.Radzinevičius. Three red cards were shown in this match - to marijampolietis D.Čigladzė and Vilnius players K.Jasaitis and A.Žekonis.
The league leaders Panevėžio "Ekranas" struggled, falling behind against the local team in Šiauliai in the fifth minute with a goal from G.Butavičiui. However, M.Savėnas equalized the score later, and P.Lukšys scored twice at the start of the second half, ultimately forcing "Šiauliai" to acknowledge the supremacy of the strong Panevėžio team.
FBK "Kaunas" had an easier task, crushing the absolute underdog Kėdainiai "Nevėžis" at home. Although both teams did not score in the first half, G.Kvaratskhelia finally broke the deadlock for Kaunas, and later young players L.Pilibaitis and A.Rimkevičius added two more goals after coming on as substitutes.
After this round, the battle for the third place intensified - "Sūduva", occupying the fourth position and having played fewer matches, reduced the gap from "Vėtra" to 4 points, one point behind the team from Marijampolė are "Šilutė" and "Vilnius". Meanwhile, the positions at the top and bottom of the league table practically remained unchanged.
The next round, starting with the 28th matchday, will be played in a week, and before that, on Tuesday, in postponed matches "Žalgiris" will face "Sūduva" while "Nevėžis" will play against "Šiauliai".
