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On Sunday, all five matches of the 27th round of the Lithuanian championship took place simultaneously, which were full of goals, fierce competition, intrigue, and dramatic moments. The title of the victors was easily secured by the leaders, "Kaunas", who defeated the champions "Ekranas" away, while the battle of the underdogs became the highlight of the round and ended in an incredible victory for "Šilutė" against "Nevėžis". In the Vilnius derby, "Žalgiris" let victory slip away in the final minute against "Vėtra", breaking their unsuccessful streak after a long break, "Vilnius" salvaged a draw, and another match ended in a draw. The most interesting match of the round took place in Panevėžys, where the last two strongest Lithuanian teams in recent years, defending champions "Ekranas" and the confidently leading "Kaunas", battled for the championship title. The contrasting form of both teams - the struggles of the Kaunas team and the recent victories of Panevėžys team - had raised hopes for excitement in the championship, but that did not happen, as the powerful striker Ričardas Beniušis scored the only goal of the match in the 40th minute for the visiting "Kaunas". "Kaunas" maintained the advantage they gained at the end of the first half, secured the victory, and increased their lead over "Ekranas" to 21 points, with three wins in the remaining ten matches possibly securing them the gold medals. Another intriguing encounter took place in Kaunas between the relegation-threatened "Nevėžis" and the absolute underdogs "Šilutė", who had suffered 13 consecutive defeats. The match started better for the visitors, as Mindaugas Grigalevičius converted a penalty in the 22nd minute, but quick goals by Vitalis Stankevičius in the 31st and 32nd minutes turned the tide in favor of the home team. When Mindaugas Daunoravičius extended the lead for "Nevėžis" to two goals in the middle of the second half, it seemed that the Kėdainiai club would secure victory and practically secure second-to-last place. However, everything changed within six minutes. In the 73rd minute, M. Grigalevičius revived the hopes of "Šilutė" by scoring from the penalty spot for the second time, and just a few minutes later, he scored his third goal and equalized the score. Soon after, Mindaugas Valančius and Mindaugas Žigutis received red cards, and an amazing victory for "Šilutė" was sealed by Tomo Vyšniauskas in the 79th minute. In a tumultuous and high-scoring match, "Šilutė" won and reduced the gap to "Nevėžis" to one point, maintaining the possibility of continuing to fight for survival. The capital city derby ended dramatically. In a crucial battle for third place, "Žalgiris" took the lead when "Vėtra" defenders made a mistake in the offside trap, allowing Igoris Morinas to score with a precise shot - the hosts were ahead 1-0 already in the 6th minute. After conceding the goal, "Vėtra" started to attack more. In the 18th minute, Dejan Milošeskis unleashed a dangerous long-range shot - the ball flew over the goal. In the 28th minute, Robertas Vėževičius struck a powerful shot towards the penalty area, but Darvydas Šernas, who failed to reach the ball, missed a great opportunity. Another chance for "Žalgiris" came from a corner kick in the 40th minute when the goalkeeper made a mistake, but the hosts were saved by the defenders who cleared the ball behind the goal line. After the break, the coaches of "Vėtra" strengthened the attack and sent Šarūnas Litvinas and German Lovčeva onto the field, but the visitors failed to create dangerous opportunities in front of the opponents' goal for a long time. Moreover, "Vėtra" coach Aleksandras Tarchanov had to make a forced substitution as Algis Jankauskas suffered an injury, and he was replaced by Slovak debutant Pavolas Barmošas. The decisive attack for "Vėtra" began in the final moments of the match. In the 83rd minute, Julius Raliukonis, who had been involved in the team's attacks, unleashed a dangerous shot from a distance, but "Žalgiris" goalkeeper Ernestas Šetkus saved the goal. Shortly after, the "Žalgiris" could have extended their lead when Andrej Usačiov made a mistake in defense, allowing Virmantas Lemežis to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the "Žalgiris" forward missed the target. In the last minute of regular time, G. Lovčeva deceived two opponents in the penalty area and made an accurate pass to Š. Litvinas, but the "Vėtra" goalkeeper missed a shot from a few meters over the crossbar. However, fortune smiled on "Vėtra" in added time - after a penalty kick, D. Milošeskis sent the ball into the penalty area, and Sergejus Kuznecovas jumped higher than the opponent to head the ball into the goal, equalizing the score and securing a draw. After this match, "Vėtra" maintained the third position in the A League with a three-point advantage over "Žalgiris" and Klaipėda's "Atlantas". "Vėtra" coach Aleksandras Tarchanovas stated that the draw was a fair result: "Although we could have won based on the chances created, I believe that a draw is the fairest outcome of this match. For most of the match, we had to chase the opponents, and we only managed to equalize in the last minute. Our players are not yet mentally strong, they are not accustomed to constantly winning and achieving one victory after another. We face tough opponents like "Ekranas", and other teams are also improving, so there is tension before each match, as every game is now very important in the battle for top positions. Not all players are mentally prepared for that." The match between the neighboring teams of the tournament table, "Šiauliai" and Marijampolė's "Sūduva", also ended in a draw. Playing at home, the Šiauliai team took the lead after a goal by Vasiliy Monakov in the 56th minute, but "Sūduva" goalkeeper Tomas Miklinevičius equalized the score ten minutes later. The "Vilnius" club celebrated victory again after a long break. The capital team, inspired by a decent performance in the LFF Cup semi-final match against Klaipėda's "Atlantas" away, took the lead in the 17th minute when Vytautas Lukša scored in consecutive matches, but Maksimas Morozovas equalized the score in the 25th minute. However, the former "Atlantas" forward Aivaras Laurišas had the final say - the player who scored a great goal against "Ekranas" on Wednesday, struck again in the 64th minute against the "Vilnius" opponents' goalkeeper Liudvikas Valius. For "Vilnius", who occupied the eighth position, this was the first victory after a seven-game break, allowing them to keep their chances alive to fight for higher positions, while "Atlantas" complicated their situation in the battle for bronze. Match statistics of the 27th round: "Kaunas" Stadium, 1250 spectators Referee - Paulius Malžinskas 0 - 1 40' [0 - 1] Ričardas Beniušis "Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Banevičius, Skroblas; Gardzijauskas, Savēnas, Tomkevičius (46' Petrauskas), Michalčuks (46' Pogreban); Kavaliauskas, Lukšys "Kaunas": Malinauskas; Kančelskis, Kunevičius, Bagužis, Radžius; Manchkava, Bartkus, Kvaratskhelia, Pehlič (75' Barevičius); Beniušis (89' Kšanavičius), Klimek (82' Pilibaitis) "Šiauliai" City Stadium, 800 spectators Referee - Saulius Atmanavičius 1 - 1 56' [1 - 0] Vasiliy Monakov 66' [1 - 1] Tomas Miklinevičius "Šiauliai": G.Arlauskis; Oriol, Lunskis, Strockis, Milevski; Afanasenka, Atigbiolaye, I.Galyuza, Ščekotilin; Monakov (74' Viktoravičius), Butavičius "Sūduva": Padimanskas; Mikuckis, Grigas, Gvildys, D.Čigladze; Urbšys (67' Maciulevičius), Jasaitis, Miklinevičius, Mačiulis; Abramenko, Braga (80' Osipovič) Vilnius "Žalgiris" Stadium, 600 spectators Referee - Vijūnas Vasiliauskas 1 - 1 6' [1 - 0] Igoris Morinas 90' [1 - 1] Sergiy Kuznecov "Žalgiris": Šetkus; Choruži, Ngapunu, I.Steško, Krukovski; Lemežis, Vilėniškis, Ostap, Bursuc; Puotkalis (75' Miliškevičius), Morinas "Vėtra": V.Žutautas; Usačiov, Raliukonis, Žudys, A.Jankauskas (70' Barmoš); Šernas (56' Litvinas), Preikšaitis, Miloševski, Vėževičius; Juška (59' Lovčev), Kuznecov Klaipėda "Žalgiris" Stadium, 250 spectators Referee - Antanas Rubys 1 - 2 17' [0 - 1] Vytautas Lukša 25' [1 - 1] Maksim Morozov 64' [1 - 2] Aivaras Laurišas "Atlantas": Valius; Žutautas, Žukauskas, Begič, Lukoševičius; Navikas, Vraneševič, Morozov, Gedgaudas; Žvingilas, Karalius (59' Mirauskas); "Vilnius": Kijewski; Grudzinskas, Rodnei, Sokolovas; Lukša, Panka, Everton, Paulinho, Muller (69' Radavičius); Laurišas, Wasiu (90' Mrowiec) Kaunas S.Dariaus and S.Girėno Stadium, 90 spectators Referee - Gediminas Mažeika 3 - 4 22' [0 - 1] Mindaugas Grigalevičius (pen.) 31' [1 - 1] Vitalis Stankevičius 32' [2 - 1] Vitalis Stankevičius 58' [3 - 1] Mindaugas Daunoravičius 73' [3 - 2] Mindaugas Grigalevičius 75' [3 - 3] Mindaugas Grigalevičius 79' [3 - 4] Tomas Vyšniauskas 76' Mindaugas Valančius ("Nevėžis"), 78' Mindaugas Žigutis ("Šilutė") sent off "Nevėžis": Strukas; Dobilas (54' Slepakovas), Rimavičius, Valančius, Juknevičius; Činikas, S.Butkus, Bezykornovas, Kestenis; Daunoravičius (84' Adomaitis), V.Stankevičius (64' Venckus) "Šilutė": Vertelis; Deveika, Nesterenko, Užkuraitis (77' Berdnik), Žigutis; Papečkys, Kižys, Z.Butkus, Vyšniauskas, Gražys (56' Podelis); Grigalevičius (90' Marozas) Standings:
