© EuroFootball.com
Great weather and an intriguing match between the two reigning champions attracted quite a few spectators to the Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas. It was a crucial match between two, perhaps, biggest rivals in the A League, even though the position in the standings was quite different: while "Kaunas" was among the leaders, "Ekranas" was holding an unusual mid-table position in recent years. 1 - 1 62' [0 - 1] Mantas Savėnas 81' [1 - 1] Marius Činikas The match was intense: players were often temporarily forced to leave the field after fouls by the opponent players. "Kaunas" tried to hold on to the ball for as long as possible, played fairly calmly and not very aggressively, so the first truly dangerous attacks were carried out by "Ekranas" players, many of whose attacks posed a significant threat to Mindaugas Malinauskas' goal. In the 24th minute, "Ekranas" created a one hundred percent chance. Vitalijus Kavaliauskas received the ball from the edge, but from a few meters away he failed to hit the empty net. After five minutes, Mantas Savėnas had a chance to shoot from about twenty meters, and he did it very dangerously: after a great shot, it seemed like the ball would go into the net, but it hit the crossbar. Soon after, another fire broke out near the "Kaunas" goal: Lithuanian national team defender Gediminas Paulauskas burst into the penalty area and, fooling several defenders, laid the ball deep in the penalty area, but no one from Panevėžys was the first to reach the ball. "Kaunas" patience in controlling the ball since around the 35th minute began to pay off: "Ekranas" no longer attacked as dangerously and "Kaunas" took the initiative. In the 35th minute, a free kick was awarded just outside the "Ekranas" goal from about 25m out. Rafael Ledesma took the initiative to shoot sideways. A few minutes later, "Kaunas" players launched a very threatening attack: Edinas Pehličius broke through on the right, passed the ball to R. Ledesma, who from a few meters away, pressured by defenders, failed to hit the goal. In the second half, the situation in the middle of the field was completely controlled by the citizens of Kaunas, so they created opportunities, attacked more, but lacked sharpness and speed in finishing attacks, so the score remained unchanged. In the 55th minute, after a pass from Ledesma, Kšanavičius had a chance to score, but the shot was off target. In the 61st minute, Ričardas Beniušis fell in the "Ekranas" penalty area, but there was no thought of a penalty kick. 62nd minute. Mantas Savėnas found himself one-on-one with "Kaunas" defender Adrian Mroviec on the left flank. Savėnas broke into the penalty area and scored a goal from about eleven meters, putting "Ekranas" ahead. A few minutes later, the same Savėnas once again caused unrest among the "Kaunas" team supporters, when his shot ricocheted near the goal. 74th minute. Beniušis repeated Kavaliauskas' mistake in the first half, failing to hit an empty net after Artūras Rimkevičius' shot from the left flank. After this episode, tension rose in the match: in the "Ekranas" penalty area, there was a minor scuffle between the Panevėžys players. In the 82nd minute, an equalizing goal was scored into the Panevėžys goal. After a corner kick near "Ekranas" goal, Rafael Ledesma played with one of his teammates, crossed the ball into the penalty area, Marius Činikas reached the ball with his head and with a strong header beat Bogdan Stefanovičius. After the equalizing goal, the hosts tried to score the winning goal. The "Ekranas" defense was cracking, but they did not concede. Perhaps the most memorable was the header by the Kaunas Brazilian R. Ledesma, which was easily saved by the "Ekranas" goalkeeper. The best player in the Kaunas team was probably the Brazilian Rafael Ledesma, who played in a somewhat unusual attacking midfielder position. He made several excellent passes to his teammates, including the goal-scoring one, was active, and posed a threat to the opponents' goal. Mantas Savėnas, on the other hand, was the leader of "Ekranas". He scored a goal, could have scored at least one more, organized the game well in the middle of the field.
