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In the fifth round of the "A League," Vilnius "Vėtra" played away against one of the underdogs of the competition, the "Šilutė" club, and secured an impressive victory with a score of 3-0.
Šilutė city stadium, 300 spectators
Referee - Deivis Kančelskis
0 - 3 Vilnius 26' [0 - 1] Andrius Sanajevas (own goal) 70' [0 - 2] Lima Severino 86' [0 - 3] Algis Jankauskas
Lineup for "Šilutė": Aidas Fabijonas; Mindaugas Valančius (77' Nerijus Valskis), Andrius Sanajevas, Ivan Brezina; Akaki Khubutia; Tadas Kijanskas, Paulius Vaikasas, Vygantas Zubavičius (85' Martynas Normantas), Gediminas Vičius; Marius Bezykornovas, Gintas Podelis (60' Tadas Straleckas)
Lineup for "Vėtra": Vaidas Žutautas; Nerijus Sasnauskas, Julius Raliukonis, Algis Jankauskas, Marijan Budimir, Pedro; Mindaugas Panka, Gediminas Butrimavičius (81' Jurij Tarkhanov), Egidijus Juška (60' Rolandas Karčemarskas); Lima Severino, Vitalis Stankevičius (46' Dejan Milošeski)
There were several changes in the "Vėtra" starting lineup. Due to family circumstances, defender Andrius Skerla could not play, so Julius Raliukonis had to move back to the defense. Egidijus Juška took the captain's position in the defensive line. There was another change in defense - instead of Almir Sulejmanovičius, Nerijus Sasnauskas, who returned after an injury, started the match.
Dejan Milošeskis, who had recovered from a foot injury, was already playing in the match in Šilutė. The defender appeared on the field after a substitution and played the entire second half. Goalkeeper Stanislavas Kozyrevas also joined the team, remaining on the bench.
From the very beginning of the match, the "Vėtra" players dominated the field and pressed the opponent's goal. They broke through in the 26th minute. After a pass from Marijan Budimir into the penalty area, the ball was accidentally deflected into the own goal by "Šilutė" defender Andrius Sanajevas.
After the break, the guests scored two more goals. In the 65th minute, Lima Severino redirected the ball into the net from close range after receiving a pass from Egidijus Juška.
The scoreline became overwhelming in the 86th minute - Algis Jankauskas scored with a header from a corner. "Vėtra" crushed "Šilutė" with a score of 3-0 and moved up to 4th place in the "A League."
After the victory, "Vėtra" coach Aleksandras Tarchanovas said that the difference could have been even greater: "The game was one-way traffic. The opponents were solely focused on defense, rarely crossing the halfway line. Today, we could have scored even more goals because we created plenty of chances. The quality of the pitch hindered our performance, we couldn't play faster, which made it easier for the opponents to defend. The efficiency in front of goal remains a significant issue for us."
Tarchanovas also expressed his delight at the return of one of the team's leaders, defender Dejan Milošeskis: "I am happy with Dejan's comeback because he is one of the team's leaders, as he proved in the first match. Unfortunately, he got a minor injury again. I hope it won't be serious, and Dejan will be able to play in the upcoming matches."
