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During the first Saturday's "A Lyga" eighth round match at Vilnius "Žalgiris" stadium, Vilnius "Vėtra" easily defeated the championship outsiders from Visaginas "Inter" with a score of 2-0.
Visaginas 0 - 2 Vilnius 25' [0 - 1] Gediminas Butrimavičius 50' [0 - 2] Vitalis Stankevičius
"Inter": Audrius Dilys; Denis Gordej, Vaidas Macianskis, Mantas Gribauskas, Vitalijus Savickas; Viktor Pašin, Rinaldo Neto (46' Jevgenij Moroz), Anton Naumov, Gintas Širmelis, Povilas Krasnovskis (57' Arvydas Novikovas); Artūras Jeršovas (46' Deivydas Matulevičius)
"Vėtra": Vaidas Žutautas; Andrej Usačiov, Pedro Botelho, Julius Raliukonis, Andrius Skerla; Nerijus Sasnauskas, Mindaugas Panka, Gediminas Butrimavičius, Egidijus Juška (78' Maksut Azizi); Limo Severino (66' Dejan Milošeski), Vitalis Stankevičius (73' Rolandas Karčemarskas)
From the beginning of the match, the initiative was taken by the players of "Vėtra", but their attacks lacked accuracy and creativity. For a long time, they failed to create dangerous opportunities.
Almost the first chance to take the lead in the 16th minute was for "Vėtra's" legionnaire from Brazil Lima Severino, but after his shot from the right edge of the penalty area, the ball flew above the goal. After a few more shots from 13 meters lacked accuracy, and Pedro Botelho missed as well. Meanwhile, "Inter" players rarely managed to cross into the opponents' half.
Eventually, the Vilnius club did just that - after several unsuccessful penalty kicks, Nerijus Sasnauskas initially tried to convert, on the 25th minute, he relinquished the duties to Gediminas Butrimavičius and did not make a mistake - the US-born goalkeeper, who missed last season, with an excellent shot from 25 meters into the top corner, left no hopes for the opponents' goalkeeper, leading the visitors forward.
After scoring the goal, "Vėtra's" players calmed down a bit and soon launched a few more dangerous attacks. In the 31st minute, Vitalis Stankevičius shot from 10 meters just wide of the goal, and a few moments later, A. Diliys caught G. Butrimavičius's 20-meter shot.
In the second half, the picture remained similar, and soon "Vėtra" practically secured the victory, scoring the second goal - after a great pass from the Brazilian L. Severino from the right flank, Vilnius forward V. Stankevičius scored.
After this episode, the Visaginas team recovered a bit and tried to respond with dangerous counter-attacks, but after accurate passes into open space to the forward Deivydas Matulevičius who emerged after substitution on the field, he lacked accuracy and speed, so the defenders easily solved all the problems, and goalkeeper Vaidas Žutautas got bored.
"Vėtra's" players also did not stand out for their activity and spent a lot of time controlling the ball in the midfield. In the 75th minute, G. Butrimavičius had another chance to score a double, but his close-range shot was blocked by a committed defender.
Right after that, another Vilnius team defender Egidijus Juška fooled several opponents and invaded the penalty area, but his shot hit the outer part of the goal, causing disappointment among the few gathered spectators.
Throughout the remaining time, Dejan Milošeskis alone tried his luck with a few long-range shots, without causing much trouble to A. Diliys.
The dull match ended with a convincing 2-0 victory for "Vėtra," allowing them to slightly improve their position in the middle of the tournament table.
After the match, the winning coach Aleksandras Tarchanovas officially told the club's website that these were not just an easy walk in the park: "We learned from the opponents' mistakes. Like us, "Žalgiris" against "Inter," initially led 2-0, but then relaxed, nearly costing them the victory. We controlled the game until the final whistle. The victory was not that easy. The opponents' team is young but well-organized, defended well."
The Russian strategist also commented on the performance of D. Milošeskis, who had recovered from injury, and V. Stankevičius, who is not currently in the best sporting form.
"D. Milošeskis still needs time to regain strength and sporting form, as he missed quite a few matches due to injury. He won't be ready to play all the matches yet, and in the next match with "Šiauliai" in three days, maybe after a week, in the meeting with "Vilnius," Dejan will be able to play longer."
"Meanwhile, V. Stankevičius still needs time to adapt because the requirements and preparation for the season at our club were different from the previous teams he played for. He played better today than against "Kaunas," scored a goal. I am pleased with his performance and plan to give him more playing time in the future."
