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One of the most interesting matches of the 8th round of the "A League" championship took place in Panevėžys, where the title defenders "Ekranas" clashed with the bronze medalists of the previous season, Marijampolė's "Sūduva". The match ended goalless.
Panevėžys "Aukštaitija" stadium, 1150 spectators Panevėžys 0 - 0 Marijampolė
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Klimavičius, Paulauskas, Galkevičius (79` Michalčuks), Skroblas; Saulėnas, Kučys (65` Kavaliauskas), Savėnas (55` Gardzijauskas), Tomkevičius; Pogreban, Lukšys
"Sūduva": S.Klevinskas; Mikuckis, Gvildys, Samusiovas, D.Čigladze; Uselis, B.Čigladze (64` T.Miklinevičius), Jasaitis, V.Slavickas (46` Urbšys); Cordeiro (81` V.Adomaitis), Braga
The match at Panevėžys "Aukštaitija" stadium saw both teams starting cautiously, and in the first 10 minutes neither team managed to create anything dangerous. The first opportunity to score came for the home team, but in the 11th minute Manto Savėnas' shot from about 20 meters flew over the bar.
In the 26th minute, the first dangerous attack was made by the "Sūduva" players - Mantas Uselis broke through on the right flank, but shot inaccurately. Just two minutes later, Davidas Čigladzė played well on the other side, but none of the Marijampolė team players could reach his pass in the penalty area.
"Sūduva" gradually took the initiative and in the 31st minute Karolis Jasaitis had a dangerous shot from distance. In the 36th minute "Ekranas" had a dangerous attack, but Dominykas Galkevičius' shot was slightly off target. During another attack, a Panevėžys player fell in the penalty area, and the hosts demanded a penalty kick, but the referee's whistle remained silent.
In the 38th minute, "Ekranas" had perhaps the most real chance to score. Povilas Lukšys broke into the penalty area and with a strong shot beat the "Sūduva" goalkeeper Saulius Klevinskas, but Tomas Mikuckis and Mantas Samusiovas managed to clear the ball off the goal line.
Four minutes later, the "Sūduva" players had a hundred percent chance - the young Vaidas Slavickas broke through on the left flank and passed the ball to Ottavio Braga, who failed to hit the ball from just a few meters and weakly shot straight at "Ekranas" goalkeeper Arvydas Skrupskis. The first half ended with a score of 0-0.
In the second half, the young Andrius Urbšys appeared for "Sūduva", who livened up the team's game and at the beginning of the half Marijampolė took over the initiative. In the 53rd minute, Marijampolė defender Darius Gvildys found himself in the opponents' penalty area, but shot over the bar.
In the 61st minute, Urbšys, who had integrated perfectly into the game, made a great run on the left flank and passed the ball into the penalty area, but Braga's header flew completely wide. Both teams failed to score a goal and the atmosphere in the stadium heated up. In the 80th minute, Panevėžys player Arūnas Klimavičius got into a scuffle with Marijampolė's safety guard Mantas Ūselis and the referee had to calm down the heated players.
With less than five minutes to go until the end of the match, a corner was raised at the "Sūduva" goal, after which there was confusion in the Marijampolė penalty area, but Mantas Samusiovas, as in the first half, managed to clear the ball off the empty goal line. This was the last dangerous attack in this match and despite "Ekranas" pressing the Marijampolė club in their penalty area in the final minutes, the match ended in a goalless draw.
It is worth mentioning that the champions of last year's "A League," the "Ekranas" players, have not scored a single goal in the last two matches and have only managed to earn one point, falling behind the leading "Kaunas" club, which has not lost a single point, by 9 points.
