"Screens" defeated "Žalgiris" in a dramatic thriller © EuroFootball.com

Continuing the 29th round of the Lithuanian championship on Sunday, three more matches were played in the "A League". In a dramatic finish, "Ekranas" snatched an incredible victory at home against "Žalgiris" despite being three goals down, "Sūduva" and "Šiauliai" convincingly won against the outsiders "Šilutė" and "Nevėžis", while Vilnius derby winners "Vėtra" settled in third place. One of the most interesting matchups of the round took place in Panevėžys, where "Ekranas", lacking motivation in the league this season, faced Vilnius "Žalgiris" striving for a spot in the top four. The visitors from the capital started the game more actively and had the first chance to score through Tadas Labukas, but he missed the target. In the 15th minute, Igoris Morinas converted a penalty kick to put Žalgiris in the lead. After playing just over half an hour, confusion arose in the "Ekranas" penalty area after a corner kick, and T.Labukas scored the second goal for "Žalgiris", missing another chance at the end of the first half when he went one-on-one but shot straight at goalkeeper Arvydas Skrupskis. After the break, the game was evenly matched, but the Vilnius team scored again in the 58th minute with a shot from Julijanas Bursukas. Žalgiris' lead increased to 3-0, but as it turned out later, the Vilnius team did not learn from their previous matches when they squandered a two-goal advantage at home and had to settle for a draw. Although Žalgiris maintained their lead until the final quarter of the last half, in the 82nd minute, "Ekranas" finally broke through the opponents' defense, and Mantas Savėnas converted a penalty kick after the goalkeeper Ernestas Šetkus committed a foul in the penalty area. Just three minutes later, M.Savėnas hit the crossbar with another penalty kick and then sent the ball into the net on the rebound, further reducing the deficit. Arūnas Klimavičius scored another goal to equalize in the penultimate minute, and in stoppage time, the fourth goal to secure victory for the hosts was scored by the Latvian Ruslan Mihalčuks. A flurry of goals was also recorded in Kaunas, where Kėdainiai "Nevėžis" played against "Šiauliai". After 33 minutes, the Šiauliai team led 3-0 after two goals from Ilja Galyuza and one from Genadijus Ščekotilinas, but just before halftime, Mindaugas Daunoravičius slightly mitigated the unfavorable result for the hosts. In the 69th minute, "Nevėžis" was given hope by team leader Vitalis Stankevičius' goal, but "Šiauliai" responded and G.Ščekotilinas scored for the second time just a few minutes later. With nine minutes left until the end of the match, the visitors secured a 5-2 victory with another goal from I.Galyuza, completing a hat-trick with a penalty kick. This victory allowed "Šiauliai" to overtake "Žalgiris" by one point and climb to fifth place based on goal difference, but Marijampolė's "Sūduva" jumped to fourth place, defeating the absolute outsider "Šilutė" at home. The first goal for the winners was scored by Andrius Urbšys right at the beginning of the match, and shortly before halftime, Aleksandras Abramenka added the second. In the last match of the round on Sunday evening, third-placed "Vėtra" and eighth-placed "Vilnius" faced off in the Vilnius derby. Celebrating victory after Dejan Miloševski's lone goal in the 62nd minute, the home team "Vėtra" solidified their position in third place. Sunday's 29th round match statistics: Marijampolė City Stadium, 725 spectators Referee - Paulius Malžinskas 2 - 0 3' [1 - 0] Andrius Urbšys 45' [2 - 0] Aleksandr Abramenko "Sūduva": S.Klevinskas; Mikuckis, G.Grigas, G.Klevinskas, D.Čigladze; Urbšys, Jasaitis (70' V.Adomaitis), Mačiulis, B.Čigladze (70' G.Slavickas); Maciulevičius, Abramenko (60' Osipovič) "Šilutė": Vertelis (46' Kilijonas); Deveika, Nesterenko (46' Vyšniauskas), Užkuraitis, H.Grigas; Zubavičius, Z.Butkus, Kižys (50' Šulkevičius), Žigutis, Papečkys; Grigalevičius Panevėžys "Aukštaitijos" Stadium, 965 spectators Referee - Audrius Kancleris 4 - 3 15' [0 - 1] Igoris Morinas 33' [0 - 2] Tadas Labukas 58' [0 - 3] Iulian Bursuc 82' [1 - 3] Mantas Savėnas 85' [2 - 3] Arūnas Klimavičius 89' [3 - 3] Mantas Savėnas 90+3' [4 - 3] Ruslans Michalčuks "Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Banevičius, Skroblas; Gardzijauskas (65' Michalčuks), Savėnas, Kučys (26' Tomkevičius), Kavaliauskas; Pogreban (43' Petrauskas), Lukšys "Žalgiris": Šetkus; Choruži, Ngapunu, I.Steško, Krukovski; Morinas, Vilėniškis (88' Lemežis), Ostap, Bursuc; Poderis, Labukas Kaunas S.Darius and S.Girėnas Stadium, 100 spectators Referee - Edmundas Gaigalas 2 - 5 19' [0 - 1] Ilja Galyuza 27' [0 - 2] Ilja Galyuza 33' [0 - 3] Genadiy Schekotilin 41' [1 - 3] Mindaugas Daunoravičius 69' [2 - 3] Vitalis Stankevičius 71' [2 - 4] Genadiy Schekotilin 81' [2 - 5] Ilja Galyuza (11m.) "Nevėžis": Strukas; Valančius, Rimavičius, Slepakovas (28' Juknevičius), D.Adomaitis; Činikas, S.Butkus, Bezykornovas (46' Mykolaitis), Kestenis; Daunoravičius (73' Macianskis), V.Stankevičius "Šiauliai": G.Arlauskis; Oriol, Lunskis, Milevski, Strockis; Afanasenka, I.Galyuza, Pšelenkis, Šidlauskas; Ščekotilin, Butavičius Vilnius "Vėtra" Stadium, 850 spectators Referee - Marijus Jazbutis 1 - 0 ([link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=7332"]More about the match[/link]) 62' [1 - 0] Dejan Miloševski "Vėtra": V.Žutautas (24' Kacinkevičius); Sasnauskas, Raliukonis, Žudys, Barmoš; Šernas, Preikšaitis, Azizi, Juška (46' Miloševski); Lovčev (80' Litvinas), Kuznecov "Vilnius": Kijewski; Freidgeimas, Artiomovas, Rodnei; Lukša, Panka (71' Radavičius), Everton, Paulinho (86' Rinaldo), Muller; Laurišas, Wasiu (72' Mrowiec) Standings