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In the Baltic League on Sunday, three matches were played - "Ekranas" ended their match at home without goals against "Ventspils", guaranteeing their place in the quarterfinals, "Vėtra" played a draw against "Skonto" away in Riga, and in Liepaja "Metalurgs" convincingly beat "Žalgiris". The match between "Kauno" and "Dinaburg" did not take place due to the Latvian club's removal from the league.
In the first matches of the season, in Panevėžys at the "Aukštaitija" stadium, "Ekranas" met with the Latvian champion club "Ventspils", to whom they had lost away stunningly with a score of 0-3.
This time, the 25-year-old midfielder from Estonia, Taavi Rähnas, came onto the field for "Ekranas" from the start of the match. However, the game began with a painful loss for the hosts - in the 13th minute, another new player, defender Dainius Gleveckas, suffered an injury and was immediately replaced.
The first half of the match was somewhat chaotic, with neither team able to take the initiative. Most of the time, the players tried to organize attacks in the middle of the field, and when approaching the opponents' goal, they did not create any danger.
The nervosity and tension also affected the players' emotions - players from both teams played roughly without courtesy. After one of these conflicts in the middle of the first half, players clashed, but thanks to the referee's intervention, a more serious incident was avoided.
Such emotional behavior, obviously, worried "Ekranas" coach Saulius Širmelis. The coach repeatedly asked his students from the substitutes' bench to play calmer, to control themselves. With neither team creating more dangerous attacks in the first half, the players went to rest with the score at 0-0.
The situation on the field practically did not change after the break, and neither the hosts nor the visitors were able to score a goal, so the match ended with a peaceful score of 0-0. "Ventspils" maintained their first place in Group B and secured a ticket to the quarterfinals.
In Group C, Benjaminas Zelkevičius' team from Liepaja "Metalurgs" surged forward, defeating Vilnius "Žalgiris" on their home ground.
The first goal for the Latvian club was scored in the 23rd minute with a precise shot by Lithuanian Mindaugas Kalonas. In the middle of the second half, within three minutes of precise strikes after passes from Genadijus Solonicynas and Mindaugas Kalonas, forward Girtas Karlsonas secured the victory for "Metalurgs".
The consolation goal for the "Žalgiris" team, which was left with ten players after Igoris Steško was sent off the field, was scored by G. Solonicin, who scored from the penalty spot from 11 meters during added time.
Meanwhile, the leader in Group D did not become clear as the match between Skonto Riga and Vėtra Vilnius ended in a 1-1 draw for the second time.
In the match in Latvia, the hosts were more active, and "Vėtra" was saved from conceding at the beginning of the match by the crossbar, but after Lima Severino's goal in the 19th minute, the visitors took the lead. Later, Gediminas Butrimavičius had a chance to increase the Vilnius team's lead, but after deceiving two defenders, he failed to beat goalkeeper Pavel Doroshev.
In the second half, after playing for eight minutes, "Ventspils" organized a quick counterattack and equalized the score after a pass from Andrejus Perepliotkinas by the home team's player Aleksandras Cauna. "Vėtra" could have snatched a victory, but Lima Severino missed the goal with his head, and the match ended in a draw.
Sunday match statistics:
Group B
"Ekranas" 0 - 0 "Ventspils"
"Ekranas": Stefanovič; Padaigis, Gleveckas (14' L.Klimavičius), Rahn, Skroblas; Bička, Savėnas, Tomkevičius, Pogreban (81' Galkevičius); Kavaliauskas, Varnas (61' Šidlauskas)
Standings:
1. "Ventspils" 3 2 1 0 4-0 7
2. "Ekranas" 3 1 1 1 2-4 4
3. "TVMK" 2 0 0 2 1-3 0
Group C
"Metalurgs" 3 - 1 "Žalgiris"
23' [1 - 0] Mindaugas Kalonas
64' [2 - 0] Girts Karlsons
67' [3 - 0] Girts Karlsons
90' [3 - 1] Igoris Morinas (11m.)
75' Artūras Steško ("Žalgiris") removed from the field
"Žalgiris": Šetkus; Choruži, I.Steško, Dubyna, Aleksa; Puotkalis (Lemežis), A.Steško, Poderis, Bursuc; Morinas, Mižigurskis (Romašovas)
Standings:
1. "Metalurgs" 3 1 2 0 4-2 5
2. "Levadia" 2 0 2 0 2-2 2
3. "Žalgiris" 3 0 2 1 2-4 2
Group D
"Skonto" 1 - 1 "Vėtra"
19' [0 - 1] Lima Severino
53' [1 - 1] Aleksandrs Cauna
"Vėtra": Žutautas; Sasnauskas, Skerla, Budimir, Jankauskas, Pedro; Panka, Raliukonis, Butrimavičius (89' Šernas); Severino, Stankevičius (66' Juška (84' Azizi))
Standings:
1. "Skonto" 3 1 2 0 6-2 5
2. "Vėtra" 3 1 2 0 5-2 5
3. "Flora" 2 0 0 2 0-7 0
