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On Sunday, the 2006 "A League" championship season ended with the last five fixtures of the 36th round. After the final round of matches, the standings in the league table remained unchanged - Vilnius team "Žalgiris" secured the fourth place by winning the Vilnius derby, "Sūduva" and "Atlantas" secured the fifth and sixth places by winning their matches as well, "Vilnius" remained in seventh place, the champion "Kaunas" won the principled leaders duel, while the underdog "Nevėžis" won in their match. Before the last round, the intrigue remained only in the battle for the fourth place. In order to secure it, Vilnius "Žalgiris" had to defeat the team in third place "Vėtra" in the capital city derby, or hope for favorable results in other stadiums. After a goalless first half, the visitors, "Vėtra," were closest to a goal, but Sergejus Kuznecovas hit the post. Meanwhile, after learning about the unfavorable results in the other matches, the players of Žalgiris took matters into their own hands and pressed their opponents, breaking the resistance of "Vėtra" in the 74th minute when Moldovan legionnaire Julijanas Bursukas scored from 6 meters. With six minutes left, the hosts were left to play with only ten men, as team captain Julius Raliukonis was sent off, and by preserving their lead, "Žalgiris" secured fourth place and a ticket to the next season's Baltic football league. Having the best chances to surpass the Vilnius team, Marijampolė's "Sūduva," fell behind by points, playing at home against "Šiauliai" who had already lost their motivation. The winners of the LFF Cup, Marijampolians were led ahead by one of their team leaders, Darius Maciulevičius, in the 34th minute, followed by another goal from Nerijus Mačiulis just before halftime. The result remained the same until the end of the match, and after Žalgiris' victory in the capital city derby, "Sūduva" had to settle for fifth place. In sixth place was Klaipėda's "Atlantas," who defeated Vilnius team in a battle for this position - the only goal of the match was scored in the middle of the second half by the port city club's defender Andrius Gedgaudas. On the other hand, the last team remaining in the league, Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis," won away against "Šilutė" and claimed at least a moral victory against the opponents who were higher in the league table. "Šilutė" took the lead after Ilgiz Fattakhov's goal in the 32nd minute, but after the break, two quick goals from "Nevėžis" leaders Vitalijus Stankevičius and Marius Činikas in eight minutes secured the win for the team from Kėdainiai. In Kaunas, the champions "Kaunas" met the previous year's champion Panevėžys' "Ekranas" in the principled duel of the leaders of the Lithuanian championship in recent years. Kaunas' team proved their strength and a greater desire to win by scoring two goals by Edin Pehlič in the beginning of the match, leading with a 2-0 score in the 18th minute. The season ended poorly for "Ekranas," who had a chance to recover in the 73rd minute with a penalty kick, but the team captain Mantas Savėnas missed from the spot. For this mistake, the strongest team of 2006 in the country punished their opponents - substitute Ričardas Beniušis scored two goals shortly after coming on to the pitch, adding a third and fourth goal before the end of the match. "Kaunas" confidently defeated "Ekranas" with a 4-0 result and left no doubt about which team deserved to be called the Lithuanian champion this year. "Kaunas" earned the right to play in the Champions League next year, runner-up "Ekranas" and "Sūduva" will play in the UEFA Europa League, third-placed "Vėtra" in the Intertoto Cup, and the three strongest teams in the country and the fourth-placed "Žalgiris" will represent Lithuania in the Baltic Football League. The last team in the championship, "Nevėžis," due to the lack of changes in the number of teams, will play in the I League next season. The football season in Lithuania has not ended completely yet, as the penultimate team "Šilutė" will have to fight against Visaginas' "Inter" for the right to play in the "A League" next season. The first leg of the playoff will take place on November 15 at 12 o'clock in Visaginas, while the return leg will be played on November 19th in Šilutė. Notable statistics from the 36th round: Šilutė City Stadium, 100 spectators Referee - Saulius Atmanavičius 1 - 2 34' [1 - 0] Ilgiz Fattakhov 56' [1 - 1] Vitalis Stankevičius 61' [1 - 2] Marius Činikas "Šilutė": Vertelis; Juozaitis, Užkuraitis, Grigas, Andriekus (80' Andriekus); Papečkys, Vičius, Fattakhov, Gražys, Berdnik (46' Šulkevičius); Marozas "Nevėžis": Jazokas; Valančius, D.Adomaitis, Slepakovas (81' Banys), Juknevičius; Činikas, Butkus, Kestenis, Venckus (46' Macianskis); Stankevičius, Daunoravičius (62' Mykolaitis) Vilnius "Žalgiris" Stadium 0 - 1 63' [0 - 1] Andrius Gedgaudas "Vilnius": Semež; Grudzinskas, Khubutia, Stanaitis, Radavičius; Lukša, Panka, Paulinho, Muller (61' Rinaldo); Adilson, Wasiu (46' Ražanauskas) "Atlantas": Valius; R.Maciulevičius (46' Grigaitis), E.Žukauskas, Ramonas, Mockus; Gedgaudas, Morozov, Petreikis, Navikas; Danilyuk (85' Vraneševič), Karalius (64' Žvingilas) Vilnius "Vėtra" Stadium, 800 spectators Referee - Audrius Žuta 0 - 1 ([link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=7756"]More[/link]) 74' [0 - 1] Iulian Bursuc 84' J.Raliukonis ("Vėtra") sent off "Vėtra": Žutautas; Sasnauskas, Raliukonis, Barmoš, Žudys; Šernas, Preikšaitis (46' Talancev), Milošeski, Vėževičius; Lovčev (29' Juška), Kuznecov "Žalgiris": Šetkus; Choruži, Ngapunu, I.Steško, Krukovski; Morinas, Vilėniškis, Ostap, Poderis (61' Lemežis), Bursuc; Labukas (75' Mižigurskis) 2 - 0 34' [1 - 0] Darius Maciulevičius 45' [2 - 0] Nerijus Mačiulis "Sūduva": S.Klevinskas; Mikuckis, Grigas, Gvildys, D.Čigladze, G.Slavickas, Jasaitis, V.Adomaitis, Mačiulis; D.Maciulevičius; Osipovič "Šiauliai": Lukovičs; Strockis, Lunskis, Milevski, Atigbiolaye; Afanasenka, Oriol (46' Tarasov), Juodeikis, Galyuza, Šidlauskas; Butavičius (46' Viktoravičius) 4 - 0 2' [1 - 0] Edin Pehlic 18' [2 - 0] Edin Pehlic 74' [3 - 0] Ričardas Beniušis 84' [4 - 0] Ričardas Beniušis 73' M.Savėnas ("Ekranas") missed 11-meter penalty "Kaunas": Kurskis; Kunevičius, Bagužis, Kijanskas, Radžius; Manchkhava, Bartkus, Kvaratskhelia, Pehlic; Rafael, Klimek "Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Banevičius, Skroblas; Michalčuks, Savėnas, Kučys, Tomkevičius; Kavaliauskas, Pogreban Final standings: (Place, team, achievements) 1. "Kaunas" (Champions League, Baltic League) 2. "Ekranas" (UEFA Europa League, Baltic League) 3. "Vėtra" (Intertoto Cup, Baltic League) 4. "Žalgiris" (Baltic League) 5. "Sūduva" (UEFA Europa League due to LFF Cup victory) 6. "Atlantas" 7. "Vilnius" 8. "Šiauliai" 9. "Šilutė" (Relegation playoff) 10. "Nevėžis" (Relegated to I League) Top goal scorers: 1. Sergiy Kuznecov ("Vėtra") 18 goals 2-3. Ilja Galyuza ("Šiauliai"), Mantas Savėnas ("Ekranas") - 16 each 4-5. Andrius Velička ("Kaunas"), Ričardas Beniušis ("Kaunas") - 14 each 6-9. Maksim Morozov ("Atlantas"), Edin Pehlic ("Kaunas"), Vitalis Stankevičius ("Nevėžis"), Povilas Lukšys ("Ekranas") - 13 each 10. Igoris Morinas ("Žalgiris") 12. Final league table:
