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The Lithuanian national team lost to Ukraine by a minimal result in the away match of the 2008 European Championship qualifiers, suffering their second consecutive defeat and dropping to sixth place in Group B with 4 points.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainians earned their 12th point and caught up with Scotland and France. In other group matches on Wednesday, Georgia beat the Faroe Islands 3-1 and secured their second victory, overtaking Lithuania, while the defending world champion Italy later in the evening will face Scotland.
Odesa's "Chernomorets" stadium
Referee - Florian Meyer (Germany)
Ukraine 1 - 0 Lithuania
48' [1 - 0] Oleg Gusev
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy; Yezerskiy, Kucher, Rusol, Nesmachniy; Kalynychenko (83' Chygrynskiy), Tymoschuk, Gusev (80' Vorobey), Mikhalik (70' Shelaev); Voronin, Shevchenko
Lithuania: Grybauskas; Paulauskas, Skerla, Žvirgždauskas, Klimavičius; Morinas (57' Gedgaudas), Šemberas, Savėnas (51' Kalonas), Stankevičius; Danilevičius, Poškus (65' Radzinevičius)
Coach Algimantas Liubinskas' starting eleven had one forced change compared to the match against France - goalkeeper Žydrūnas Karčemarskas, who was injured, was replaced by substitute Paulius Grybauskas, who was in the previous match against France.
The match started with active attacks by the hosts and a couple of times the Ukrainians almost managed to receive passes from the wing. Taking advantage of the confusion in the Lithuanian defense, Andrei Voronin struck towards goal, but his attempt was saved by P. Grybauskas.
In the 15th minute, the Lithuanians managed to defend against two dangerous shots by the Ukrainians, and in the 20th minute, Andrei Shevchenko overcame the offside trap but missed the goal when he was one-on-one with P. Grybauskas.
Gradually gaining confidence after withstanding pressure at the beginning of the match, the Lithuanian national team started to show more initiative. In the middle of the first half, a long-range shot by Mantas Savėnas went wide, and soon after, after a corner taken by the latter, Arūnas Klimavičius failed to hit the goal with a header.
P. Grybauskas caught another weak shot by A. Voronin, and a minute later the hosts' goalkeeper Maxim Kalynichenko hit the ball with his head very dangerously close to the goal. In the 38th minute, the Lithuanian national team almost took the lead - after Marius Stankevičius crossed the ball into his own goal area with his head, Denis Kucher hit the crossbar.
At the end of the first half, luck smiled on the Lithuanians as the Ukrainians extended their attack carelessly after a miss by P. Grybauskas, and when Vladimir Yezerski headed the ball, it hit the crossbar of the guests' goal. The first half ended goalless 0-0.
However, in the third minute of the second half, the hosts scored the first goal. M. Kalynichenko passed the ball from the left wing to the penalty area, and there, Oleg Gusev, who was left free, headed the ball into the corner of the goal, leaving no chance for P. Grybauskas. Lithuania soon responded with an attack from Tomas Danilevičius, but his shot from a difficult position was saved by Alexandr Shovkovskiy.
Lithuanian national team coach Algimantas Liubinskas immediately sent Mindaugas Kalonas and Andrius Gedgaudas onto the field, but they failed to significantly liven up the game, and in the middle of the half the Ukrainians barely increased their lead. Initially, Vladymyr Yezerskiy missed the goal with his head, and after an hour, when Oleg Gusev made a clever shot after a pass from the wing, his goal was disallowed for offside.
Soon, a couple more shots from A. Shevchenko did not cause serious problems for P. Grybauskas, while on the other side of the field, M. Kalonas tried his luck from afar, hitting the ball straight at A. Shovkovskiy. The visitors gradually gained territorial advantage, but the hosts prepared more dangerous attacks, and A. Voronin hit wide from the penalty area, while A. Shevchenko failed to score from a sharp angle.
In the 75th minute, the Lithuanians still launched a more serious attack, but after a pass from Tadas Radzinevičius, Deividas Šemberas shot unsuccessfully from long range. With four minutes remaining, Tomas Danilevičius found himself at the end of the attack, managing to get past the defender in the penalty area, tried to outwit the goalkeeper by falling, but the match referee Florian Meyer was not convinced.
At the end of the match, Ukraine could have increased their advantage, but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk's shot was saved by P. Grybauskas, and Andriy Vorobei missed from close range. The match ended with a minimal but confident 1-0 victory for the hosts.
Next European Championship qualifying matches Lithuania will play at home against Georgia and Italy on June 2 and 6.
