"Sūduva" won the battle for third place (Updated) © EuroFootball.com

In Lithuania's "A League", the 35th round matches were played on Saturday. Marijampolė's "Sūduva" took a step towards third place in the championship and a ticket to the UEFA Cup tournament by defeating their direct opponent Vilnius "Vėtra" in a crucial match. Meanwhile, Panevėžys "Ekranas" won the important battle of the leaders. In order to secure the third place in the league, "Sūduva" needed a victory at home, and supported by 2700 spectators in the stadium, the team managed to defeat their opponents. In the 50th minute, "Sūduva's" attacking leader T.Radzinevičius scored the first goal, while S.Butkus secured the victory by adding a second goal in the 68th minute. The visitors tried to liven up the game, but they failed to change the course of the match - "Sūduva" won and overtook "Vėtra" by two points in the league table. Now, in the final round, Marijampolė's team only needs to play a draw against Vilnius "Žalgiris" away or wait for an unexpected defeat of "Vėtra" in the match against "Šilutė" at their home. An interesting and intense match took place in Kaunas, where the local "Kaunas" team met the already crowned champions Panevėžys "Ekranas". The hosts took the lead in the fourth minute with R.Beniušis, but at the end of the first half, the result became equal after M.Savėnas' goal. After the break, A.Rimkevičius restored the advantage for the Kaunas team, but the visitors did not give up, and after playing an hour, M.Savėnas scored from the penalty spot, and soon after, D.Saulėnas scored the third and winning goal for Panevėžys, proving for the third time this season that they are the strongest team in Lithuania. In the almost uneventful Vilnius derby, "Žalgiris" defeated "Vilnius" with a minimal advantage thanks to M.Karalius' goal. "Šiauliai" managed to snatch a point in the match against Klaipėda's "Atlantas" in the penultimate minute, while "Šilutė" crushed Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis" who finished the match with nine players. Table 35th round statistics Marijampolė's "Sūduva" stadium, 2700 spectators Referee - Deivis Kančelskis 2 - 0 50' [1 - 0] Tomas Radzinevičius 68' [2 - 0] Saulius Butkus "Sūduva": V.Žutautas; Grigas, Gvildys, Veikutis, D.Čigladze; Aleksa, B.Čigladze (62' Afanasenka), Butkus, Braga; Maciulevičius, Radzinevičius "Vėtra": Merkelis; Grudzinskas (74' Sasnauskas), Raliukonis, I.Steško, Žudys; Butrimavičius, Preikšaitis, Šernas (79' Blažys), Sivinskij; Litvinas, Vaineikis (68' Vasiliauskas) Vilnius "Žalgiris" stadium, 150 spectators Referee - Marijus Jazbutis 0 - 1 40' [0 - 1] Martynas Karalius "Vilnius": Kijewski; Sokolovas, Žarnovskis, Artiomovas, Kazlauskas; Katsitadze (77' Buinickij), Lukša, Radavičius, Panka; Brazauskas, Astrauskas (64' Bakalag) "Žalgiris": Šetkus; Tereškinas, Gražiūnas, Sorokinas (80' Šilo), Miliškevičius; Jasaitis, Choruži (68' Valskis), Lemežis, Maksimovič; Dovkša (68' Kaušpadas), Karalius Šiauliai city stadium, 350 spectators Referee - Antanas Rubys 1 - 1 6' [0 - 1] Rimantas Žvingilas 89' [1 - 1] Deividas Lunskis "Šiauliai": Arlauskis; Oriol, Rukas, Lunskis, Juodeikis; Tučinskij, Šidlauskas, N.Garuckas, Atigbiolaye; Butavičius, Varnas "Atlantas": Valius; R.Maciulevičius, Žernys, Šarūnas, Ramonas; Navikas (89' Grigaitis), Bartkus (55' Užkuraitis), Šoblinskas (46' Pancerovas), Lapeikis; Laurišas, Žvingilas Šilutė city stadium, 150 spectators Referee - Aleksandras Jakubovskis 3 - 0 70' [1 - 0] Gvidas Juška (11m.) 83' [2 - 0] Gvidas Juška (11m.) 85' [3 - 0] Mindaugas Grigalevičius 50' Andrius Klimakovas, 69' Vitalijus Jurevičius (both - "Nevėžis") sent off "Šilutė": Stonys; Gaurilovas, Kijanskas, Mockus (84' Ratkevičius), Pacevičius; Andriekus, Zubavičius (55' Vičius), Judickas (61' Podelis), Ivaškevičius; Juška, Grigalevičius "Nevėžis": Jazokas; Klimakovas, Rabikauskas, Jurevičius, Vaškūnas; Adomaitis, Kestenis, Juknevičius (73' Slepakovas), Činikas; Smilginas, V.Stankevičius Kaunas S.Dariaus and S.Girėno stadium, 1600 spectators Referee - Audrius Žuta 2 - 3 4' [1 - 0] Ričardas Beniušis 43' [1 - 1] Mantas Savėnas 47' [2 - 1] Artūras Rimkevičius 60' [2 - 2] Mantas Savėnas (11m.) 62' [2 - 3] Dainius Saulėnas "Kaunas": Kilijonas; Kančelskis, Manchkava, Bagužis, Žaliūkas (69' Papečkys); Kvaratskhelia, Barevičius, Mačiulis (46' Velička), Pilibaitis (78' Pehlič); Rimkevičius, Beniušis "Ekranas": Skrupskis; Januševičius, Skroblas, Banevičius, Klimavičius; Galkevičius, Tomkevičius, Savėnas, Saulėnas; Lukšys, Kavaliauskas Top scorers: Mantas Savėnas ("Ekranas") 27 goals Tomas Radzinevičius ("Sūduva") 25 goals Povilas Lukšys ("Ekranas") 19 goals Ričardas Beniušis ("Kaunas") 16 goals Gvidas Juška ("Šilutė"), Vitalijus Kavaliauskas ("Ekranas") 14 goals each Andrius Velička ("Kaunas") 13 goals Aivaras Laurišas ("Atlantas"), Mindaugas Panka ("Vilnius") 11 goals each Artūras Rimkevičius ("Kaunas") 10 goals