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On Wednesday, the home team "Šiauliai" considered the discovery of this season, convincingly defeated the defending champions Panevėžio "Ekranas" footballers with a score of 1-4. Although the beginning of the match did not promise anything good for the residents of Šiauliai, in the second half the scales tipped in another direction, and the hosts achieved a convincing victory.
Šiauliai Municipality Stadium, 1800 spectators Referee - Edmundas Gaigalas 4 - 1 47' [1 - 0] Vaidas Viktoravičius 48' [2 - 0] Ilja Galyuza 58' [2 - 1] Povilas Lukšys 76' [3 - 1] Vaidas Viktoravičius 83' [4 - 1] Andrius Šidlauskas
"Šiauliai": Lukovičs; Atigbiolaye, Lunskis, S.Galyuza, Zemskov; Strockis (74' P.Šidlauskas), A.Šidlauskas, Oriol, Juodeikis (46' Viktoravičius), I.Galyuza; Butavičius
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Banevičius, Skroblas; Petrauskas (62' Michalčuks), Kučys, Tomkevičius, Savėnas; Kavaliauskas, Lukšys
The guests started the match very actively and within the first ten minutes had at least four opportunities to score a goal: once the ball flew over the crossbar after a corner kick, during another attack the ball passed just a few centimeters from the goalpost, Povilas Lukšys missed from about 12 meters, and after a few more attacks Mantas Savėnas beat the "Šiauliai" goalkeeper Ingus Lukovičs, but his shot hit the goalpost.
After a spectacular start, the footballers of "Ekranas" continued to attack in large numbers: after playing more than ten minutes, Arūnas Klimavičius headed towards goal from 25 meters, but I.Lukovičs demonstrated an excellent reaction. Just a few minutes later, M.Savėnas' shot from about 25 meters was saved by I.Lukovičs.
For the first time, "Šiauliai" threatened the opponents' goal after about 20 minutes, when Donatas Strockis shot from a sharp angle, but his shot did not trouble the "Ekranas" goalkeeper Arvydas Skrupskis.
After this episode until the end of the first half, "Ekranas" created three more real chances to score: about 25 meters away, I.Lukovičs saved a strong shot by Aurimas Kučys with his fingertips, after ten minutes, A.Kučys' header from a penalty kick hit the crossbar, and a few moments later a shot from M.Savėnas barely missed the goal, but I.Lukovičs rushed out of the goal just in time to block the attacker, who was about to enter the penalty area.
During the halftime break, "Šiauliai" coach Saulius Vertelis made what seemed to be a decisive substitution: he brought eighteen-year-old Vaidas Viktoravičius onto the field instead of the experienced Gintaras Juodeikis.
It was this player who, just two minutes into the second half, put the hosts in the lead: during a counterattack, he received an excellent pass from the left flank and, falling down, redirected the ball into the far corner of the goal.
The sudden surge forward by "Šiauliai" did not go unnoticed, and a minute later they doubled the score, when the most productive player of the hosts Ilja Galiūza scored a quite quirky goal - his shot from about 18 meters took a strange trajectory, bounced off the grass, and jumped over the goalkeeper into the goal.
After this goal, the "Ekranas" footballers began to get nervous, their game faltered, and the players received several yellow cards. Mantas Savėnas received particularly negative reactions, not only for kicking the ball out of bounds when a "Šiauliai" player was on the ground injured but also for obstructing the defender of the hosts who intervened to stop his attack. A brawl almost erupted after this episode.
However, the "Ekranas" players managed to reduce the result in the middle of the second half - after M.Savėnas' pass from the left flank, P.Lukšys, who was free in the penalty area, defeated the "Šiauliai" goalkeeper with a strong shot from a sharp angle.
A few minutes later, "Šiauliai" almost restored a two-goal lead - after a very powerful and precise long-shot by Gediminas Butavičius, the ball was tipped over the bar by A.Skrupskis.
Later, there were a few attempts by "Ekranas": A.Klimavičius' header after a free kick, which demanded a sudden reaction from I.Lukovičs, and a shot by M.Savėnas from about 18 meters that also forced the goalkeeper to dive.
With about fifteen minutes left to play until the end of the match, "Šiauliai" dashed the hopes of the visitors: after another counterattack and a great pass from Paulius Šidlauskas, V.Viktoravičius, received the ball and once again defeated A.Skrupskis.
Scoring the decisive goal was Andrius Šidlauskas, who scored an overwhelming goal from a distance. Receiving a long pass from the left flank, the Šiauliai player entered the penalty area, deceived Lithuania's national team defender Gediminas Paulauskas, and with a curved shot into the far top corner of the goal scored the fourth goal and secured his team's victory.
After the match, S.Vertelis said that he truly did not expect such a result, as several key players could not play due to injuries and yellow cards, but he disagreed that his team was simply lucky: "You can't be lucky if you don't play".
The assistant coach of "Ekranas," Virginijus Liubšys, was quite pessimistic: "In my 30-year career, I can't remember a match where one team had so many opportunities and failed to capitalize on them. It seems that today everything was on Šiauliai's side - both luck and skill. The golden rule was proven: as much as you don't score, that's how much you get scored upon."
