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The third match of the 21st round took place at the Vilnius "Žalgiris" stadium, where the local team met with the country's champions, Panevėžys "Ekranas", in a thrilling match. Successfully playing the first part of the game, the Žalgiris team took the lead after strikes from Igoris Morinas and Eimantas Poderis, but later two quick goals from Povilas Lukšys helped the guests to secure a draw.
Vilnius "Žalgiris" Stadium, 750 spectators Referee - Audrius Žuta 2 - 2 41' [1 - 0] Igoris Morinas 49' [2 - 0] Eimantas Poderis 58' [2 - 1] Povilas Lukšys 66' [2 - 2] Povilas Lukšys (p. 11)
10' E.Poderis ("Žalgiris") missed a penalty shot
"Žalgiris": Šetkus; Choruži, Miliškevičius, I.Steško, Krukovski; Lemežis (66' Šikurin), Poderis (86' Mižigurskis), Ostap, Bursuc; Morinas, Labukas
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Banevičius, Klimavičius; Michalčuks (54' Petrauskas), Tomkevičius, Gardzijauskas, Varnas, Šlekys (46' Kavaliauskas); Pogreban (46' Kučys), Lukšys
In the capital city playing field, three Moldovans, former team mates at Otačio "Nistru" club - who finally sorted out their visas and returned to play for "Ekranas", forward Sergejus Pogreban and defenders Anatolijus Ostapas and Julijanas Bursukas for Žalgiris. This left Gerdas Aleksa and Andrius Puotkalis on the bench for the Vilnius team, while "Ekranas" could not count on team captain Mantas Savėnas due to yellow cards.
"Ekranas" suffered a heavy defeat in the Champions League and faced serious problems as early as the ninth minute, when Igoris Morinas was brought down in the penalty area and referee Audrius Žuta awarded a penalty kick to the visitors. Eimantas Poderis attempted to take it, but the experienced goalkeeper easily saved the shot.
However, the first goal was scored by "Žalgiris" - after a pass from Marijus Krukovskis from the side, Igoris Morinas managed to evade the defenders and sent a precise header from about 8 meters into the goal. This missed opportunity unsettled the guests and they didn't create any more dangerous chances in the first half.
In the second half, inspired by the goal, "Žalgiris" played even more actively and in the 49th minute, after a beautiful combination, scored their second goal - precise passes approached "Ekranas" goal and after Tadas Labukas' pass, E.Poderis doubled the Vilnius' lead from the penalty area, compensating for his mistake in the first half.
The game of Panevėžys was revived by the appearance of Aurimas Kučys and Vitalijus Kavaliauskas after substitutions, and in the 50th minute the ball went to R.Mihalčuk, who shot straight at the goalkeeper. "Ekranas" attacks continued and although initially P.Lukšys didn't pose any major problems to E.Šetkus, in the 58th minute, after a pass from the side to the Žalgiris players, the ball bounced to P.Lukšys and he equalized from about seven meters - the guests softened the gap and gained hope.
"Žalgiris" responded with a dangerous penalty shot, which I.Morinas headed straight into A.Skrupskis, but in the 66th minute "Ekranas" earned a penalty kick and P.Lukšys, who scored, leveled the score. It was the ninth goal of the striker in the championship and meant that everything started anew in the match.
Nevertheless, Žalgiris did not give up and in the 76th minute almost restored their lead when Marijanas Choruži made a dangerous pass into the penalty area, and trying to disturb Tadas Labukas, the defender redirected the ball into his own goal, but luckily for 'Ekranas' it went straight to goalkeeper A.Skrupskis. The tension increased and both teams struggled to find a way towards the opponents' goal. In the 84th minute P.Lukšys attempted a shot from 25 meters, but it was off target.
With three minutes left until the end of the match, luck was on the side of "Žalgiris" - Aurimas Kučys decided to attack from about 30 meters and E.Šetkus managed to push the ball with his fingertips onto the crossbar, from which it bounced onto the goal line. The intense match ended in a draw, which wasn't particularly beneficial to either team - "Ekranas" barely reduced the gap from "Kaunas", while "Žalgiris" remained in eighth position.
