© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday, the 3rd round matches of the Lithuanian Championship were played, after which no team remained without losing points. The favorites of the league "Kaunas", "Ekranas", and "Vėtra" all played to a draw away from home, with "Sūduva" managing to defeat "Vėtra". Despite two victories, "Žalgiris" failed to win in Šilutė, while "Šiauliai" easily defeated "Inter". The title defenders "Kaunas" traveled to the capital and [link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=9470"]met "Vilnius"[/link]. The intense match in Vilnius, just like last year's 11th round duel, ended in a 2-2 draw, with both goals scored by a Brazilian player. This time the hosts took the lead, with forward Kleyras standing out among them. However, after the break, the score was turned around by "Kaunas" striker Ričardas Beniušis, who scored twice and became the top scorer of the championship. Nevertheless, "Vilnius" attacked and, with eight minutes left, Kleyras equalized the score and helped his team secure a deserved draw. The reigning champions, "Žalgiris", also failed to take advantage of the slip-up by "Kaunas" as they drew away at "Šilutė" where they faced resilient opposition and had to settle for a goalless draw. Without their injured team leader Mantas Savėnas, Panevėžys' "Ekranas" also failed to win. The country's vice-champions fell behind in Klaipėda after Luka Aničičius converted a penalty kick, but young defender Linas Klimavičius equalized the score in the middle of the second half. The match started relatively evenly, with Panevėžys having more possession but failing to break through the defense of the home team. The Klaipėda team gradually gained control of the midfield. Dangerous opportunities arose for both teams. Despite several dangerous strikes by Povilkas Lukšys, "Atlantas" goalkeeper Arnas Lekevičius successfully kept his goal "dry". However, in the 38th minute, a mistake by "Ekranas" defenders resulted in a penalty kick for the visitors. Luka Aničičius successfully converted the penalty and put "Atlantas" ahead in the 38th minute. After the break, the home team completely dominated the field. Every long shot allowed the forwards to burst into the "Ekranas" half. Next to the Klaipėda goal, high passes and attempts to break through the defense were made at the "second" level, but the defenders successfully deflected the attacks. With more ball control, the chances for Panevėžys to score the equalizer increased. "Atlantas" defenders began making mistakes, which were well taken advantage of by the visitors from Panevėžys. After one more error between the defenders and goalkeeper A.Lekevičius, a corner kick was awarded towards the "Atlantas" goal. "Ekranas" successfully capitalized on this opportunity, and in the 68th minute Linas Klimavičius scored the equalizer. After the goal, the visitors lost control of the midfield, but in the 84th minute veteran Rimantas Žvingilas scored a powerful goal for "Atlantas". This was the first point earned by Klaipėda's "Atlantas" in this year's A League Championship, while "Ekranas" secured their second draw. After three rounds, the players from the port city are in last place with one point, while the Panevėžys team is in fourth place with 5 points. Marijampolė's "Sūduva" suffered their first defeat of the season against Vilnius' "Vėtra". Supported by a large crowd of fans, Marijampolė, with team leader Darius Maciulevičius, [link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=9469"]performed better[/link] and won after Otavio Braga's single goal in the 59th minute. Meanwhile, in their first home match of the season, "Šiauliai" gifted a celebration to the fans, defeating league newcomers Visaginas' "Inter" with a score of 4-1. Ukrainian legionnaire Viktor Raskovas scored three goals for Šiauliai, while Vaidas Viktoravičius added another, and "Inter" got a consolation goal from the penalty spot, scored by Antonas Naumovas. The matches of the fourth round of the "A League" will be played on Wednesday. Statistics of the 3rd round matches Šilutė City Stadium, 400 spectators Referee - Saulius Atmanavičius 0 - 0 "Šilutė": Hertelendi; Šulkevičius (68' Valančius), Regelskis (62' Brezina), A.Sanajevas, Khubutia; T.Kijanskas, Zubavičius, Vičius, Bezykornovas, Kovačev; Podelis (88' Normantas). "Žalgiris": Šetkus; Dubina (77' Mižigurskis), B.Ngapounou, I.Steško, Lukoševičius; Choruži, Lemežis, Vilėniškis, Bursuc; Poderis (55' Misiuk), Morinas Marijampolė's "Sūduva" Stadium, 2400 spectators Referee - Edmundas Gaigalas 1 - 0 ([link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=9469"]More about the match[/link]) 59' [1 - 0] Otavio Augusto Braga "Sūduva": S.Klevinskas; Sobol, Mikuckis, M.Skinderis, V.Slavickas; Maciulevičius (74' G.Klevinskas), Mačiulis (83' A.Milevskiy), Miklinevičius, Kozyuberda; Willer, Braga (77' G.Juška) "Vėtra": Žutautas; Sulejmanovič, Jankauskas, Budimir, Skerla, Pedro; Panka, Raliukonis, Butrimavičius (70' Azizi); Severino (65' Juška), Stankevičius (81' Karčemarskas) 1 - 1 38' [1 - 0] Luka Aničič (Penalty) 68' [1 - 1] Linas Klimavičius "Atlantas": A.Lekevičius; Šarūnas, Ramonas, Gnedojus, Nesterenko; Navikas, Petreikis, Silič, Pokorn; Aničič, Daunoravičius "Ekranas": Stefanovič; Rimavičius, Paulauskas, L.Klimavičius, Skroblas; Bička, Galkevičius, Tomkevičius, Kavaliauskas; Varnas, Lukšys. Vilnius' "Vėtra" Stadium, 500 spectators Referee - Vijūnas Vasiliauskas 2 - 2 ([link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=9470"]More about the match[/link]) 28' [1 - 0] Kleyr Vieira dos Santos 62' [1 - 1] Ričardas Beniušis 66' [1 - 2] Ričardas Beniušis 83' [2 - 2] Kleyr Vieira dos Santos "Vilnius": Valius; Radavičius, Artiomovas, Rodnei, Freidgeimas; Paulinho, Andreson, Binho, Lukša (75' Rodolfo); Muller, Kleyr (88' Wasiu) "Kaunas": Malinauskas; Kunevičius, Radžius, Bagužis, Mrowiec (86' Kšanavičius); Kvaratskhelia, Strakhanovic, Bartkus, Pehlič (68' Mendy); Ledesma (90' Činikas), Beniušis Šiauliai Municipality Stadium, 2250 spectators Referee - Audrius Kancleris 4 - 1 ([link="http://www.eurofootball.com/index.php?page=news&id=9479"]More about the match[/link]) 31' [1 - 0] Viktor Raskov 47' [2 - 0] Viktor Raskov 70' [3 - 0] Viktor Raskov 75' [4 - 0] Vaidas Viktoravičius 85' [4 - 1] Anton Naumov (Penalty) "Šiauliai": Lukovičs; Kirchner (46' Kuklys), Žukauskas, Lunskis, Juodeikis; Butavičius (71' Viktoravičius), Strockis (65; D.Arlauskis), Zabara, Šilėnas; Raskov, Tsiganenko. "Interas": Dubrovskij; Tučinskij, Stanaitis (46' Matulevičius), Grybauskas, Moroz; Macianskis (65' Papšys), Naumovas, G.Širmelis, Afanasenko; Krasnovskis (46' Slepakovas), Jeršovas League Standings:"
