© EuroFootball.com
Wednesday night in Kaunas saw a match between the "Kaunas" and "Šiauliai" clubs in the 'A League'. The teams were in completely different positions. "Kaunas," one of the league leaders, gaining form with every game, while "Šiauliai" struggling within the team. The team's captain, experienced defender Egidijus Žukauskas, was forced to leave the team, and his absence was strongly felt in the match.
The match took place at the "Darius and Girėnas Sports Center" stadium in Kaunas, with 1070 spectators in attendance. The final score was 4-0:
14' [1 - 0] Rafael Ledesma
28' [2 - 0] Ričardas Beniušis
51' [3 - 0] Artūras Rimkevičius
75' [4 - 0] Mindaugas Grigalevičius
In the very beginning of the match, the "Kaunas" players showed who the home team was. They completely controlled the situation on the field and pressured "Šiauliai." "Kaunas" created many attacks, but "Šiauliai" managed not to concede a goal. However, in the 14th minute of the match, the "Šiauliai" goalkeeper had to retrieve the ball from the net after a serious mistake. In a standard situation, "Kaunas" forward Rafael Ledesma struck from more than thirty meters, and the "Šiauliai" goalkeeper Ingus Lukovičs, after catching the ball, let it slip from his hands into the net. After the goal, "Šiauliai" appeared very distraught, often making mistakes in basic playing situations.
In the 26th minute, the second goal was scored in the "Šiauliai" goal. The same R. Ledesma played according to the often-used "Kaunas" tactic when the ball is passed back from the corner to a player running up, and then passed back to the penalty area from closer range. After such a situation, Ričardas Beniušis found himself first to the ball in the opponent's penalty area and scored a goal.
Nothing significant happened in the first half: "Šiauliai" tried to attack, but "Kaunas" completely controlled the situation.
At the beginning of the second half, the "Šiauliai" club players appeared broken. It seemed like they no longer believed in success in the match, their game lacked sharpness and aggression.
Meanwhile, "Kaunas" created opportunities and goals. In the 52nd minute, "Kaunas" player Artūras Rimkevičius scored after a corner kicked by R. Ledesma. R. Ledesma showed excellent form in the match and marked it with a goal and two assists.
Shortly after, R. Beniušis could have scored his second goal when, after a powerful shot by Pascal Mendy, he missed the goal from a few meters away.
After this goal, "Kaunas" coach, Bulgarian Angelas Červenkovas, felt completely calm, knowing his players would secure three points and began to experiment by letting other players play. On the field, Oleg Stakhanovičius and Marius Činikas appeared instead of the well-playing G. Kvaratskhelia and P. Mendy.
From the middle of the second half, the match resembled a training session. "Šiauliai" struggled to create attacks, while "Kaunas" completely dominated the field.
In the 75th minute, after a substitution, Mindaugas Grigalevičius found himself alone against the goalkeeper and, deceiving him, scored the fourth goal for "Kaunas."
Until the end of the match, no more goals were scored, and "Kaunas" temporarily rose to the top of the league table, but they can still be overtaken by "Vilnius," who have played one game less.
