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The strongest team in the Baltic region will now have the right to be called Panevezys "Ekranas" - Lithuanian champions in the decisive Baltic Champions Cup matches in Liepaja against the local "Metalurgs" after a nerve-racking battle played evenly and due to a higher number of goals scored in the duel against Tallinn "TVMK" became the tournament winners.
"Metalurgs" 1 - 1 "Ekranas" 20' [1 - 0] Audrius Banevicius (own goal) 64' [1 - 1] Vitalijus Kavaliauskas
At the beginning of the meeting, neither team had the initiative, but in the 20th minute of the match, the home team broke through when the corner kick lifted by Genadij Solonicin from Audrius Banevicius' feet flew into the net.
In the second half, Povilas Lukšys and Dzintars Zirnis were removed from the field for pushing. This slightly disturbed "Ekranas" play and "Metalurgs" had two great chances to double the lead, but after Mindaugas Kalonas' pass, Kristaps Grebis's shot was deflected by Arvydas Skrupskis and the second attempt to score Artūras Rimkevičius failed, and later on a counterattack, Tomas Tamošauskas broke through one-on-one, but the Panevezys goalkeeper saved them again.
In the 41st minute, the situation of "Ekranas" became even more complicated when within a few minutes the guests' defender Aurimas Kučys received two yellow cards for fouls against T.Tamošauskas and M.Kalonas. The Lithuanian champions were left to play with nine players against ten opponents and still had to eliminate a one-goal deficit.
Despite the numerical advantage, the Latvian club coached by Benjamin Zelkevičius had to repel more attacks from "Ekranas" after the break - initially near the goal Mindaugas Gardzijauskas shot, and from a couple of Manto Savėnas' penalty kicks, goalkeeper Aleksej Kruc managed to defend. After an hour of play, "Metalurgs" striker Artūras Rimkevičius had a chance to score, but being free near the far post, he unsuccessfully hit the ball.
The strength of the Panevezys players who played for the second day in a row gradually decreased, but in the 64th minute, after a very precise combination, they managed to equalize the result - M.Savėnas passed the ball to Egidijus Varnas in the corner of the field, and after this pass into the penalty area, Vitalijus Kavaliauskas outmaneuvered the defender and beat the goalkeeper of the Liepaja club with one touch.
Such a result satisfied the Lithuanians and "Metalurgs" had to switch to offense, but they were unable to break through the opponents' defense. With four minutes left until the end of the match, A.Rimkevičius received the ball near the goal and could snatch victory for the hosts, but A.Skrupskis played reliably and blocked the shot. "Ekranas" resisted and won the first Baltic Champions Cup tournament.
Final table of the Baltic Champions Cup: (Place, team, country, won, drawn, lost, goals, points) 1. Panevezys "Ekranas" (Lithuania) 1 1 0 7-5 4 2. Liepaja "Metalurgs" (Latvia) 1 1 0 3-1 4 3. Tallinn "TVMK" (Estonia) 0 0 2 4-8 0
