© Kulis Photography
After the sensational victory in the 4th round of the "TOPsport A Lyga", Telšiai's "Džiugas" broke through once again.
Excerpt. "Džiugas" is known for having one of the most productive series in the Lithuanian championship - they defeated the champions 1-0 at home, breaking Marijampolė's "Sūduva."
The Žemaitija team had previously had a four-game unbeaten streak, but had never earned 8 points through it. Goalkeeper Marius Paukštė has kept a clean sheet in four matches.
Message. In the first half of the match in Telšiai, "Džiugo's" defensive pillar Tomas Rapalavičius suffered a painful injury. After the victorious match, the coach of Žemaitija, Andrius Lipskis, had warm words for him.
"I want to dedicate this victory to Tomas Rapalavičius. I respect him a lot personally, he is the best player in our team. Tom, we dedicate this victory to you and we await your return," said A. Lipskis.
Surprise. Gargždai's "Banga" surprised and defeated "Panevėžys" 1-0 after a goal by the 19-year-old Maksimas Andrejevas. For the first time in the "TOPsport A Lyga," the team from Gargždai returned from the capital of Aukštaitija with a victory.
For M. Andrejevas, this was his first successful strike in the Lithuanian championship; in turn, "Banga" earned 5 points in four matches against last season's strongest teams.
Pitfall. The defending champions "Panevėžys," who started the season very poorly, have only collected 2 points after 4 rounds and have dropped to the last - 10th - place.
The players coached by Gino Lettieri have not scored a single goal. Never before in the "TOPsport A Lyga" have the Panevėžys team had such a "dry" streak of four matches.
Spurt. Alytus DFK "Dainava" became the ninth club to open the scoring. Within the first 15 minutes, the team from Dainava scored twice and defeated Vilnius district's "TransINVEST" 2-0.
The Ukrainian Artiomas Baftalovskis stood out with an accurate strike and an assist. "Dainava" has only conceded one goal - only "Džiugas" can boast of a better result.
Return. The coaching staff of "TransINVEST" made a change in the goalkeeper position - instead of the unsuccessful start to the season by Simone Moschino, Sergijus Melašenka got a chance.
The Ukrainian has played 26 matches representing Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis" in 2021, did not get a chance with Vilnius "Riteriai" a year later, and last year triumphed for the second time in his career in the "TOPsport Pirmoji Lyga" with the Vilnius district club.
Breakthrough. FA "Šiauliai" was close to not winning for the fourth time in a row, but a few good minutes allowed them to defeat "Kauno Žalgiris" 2-1.
For the first time since the second half of the 2022 season in the Lithuanian championship, Augustinas Klimavičius stood out, and the decisive strike was made by Davis Ikauniekas, who corrected his own penalty miss. Latvian, along with Giedrius Matulevičius, who scored three times, is the most productive player in the league.
Dismissal. In the "TOPsport A Lyga," four red cards have been shown to players this year, two of them to "Kauno Žalgiris" players.
Armandas Kučys joined the Slovenian Žan Benedičič. The forward scored his second goal in the 2024 season, but without him, the team playing the entire second half in Šiauliai capitulated in the final minutes.
Trend. Kauno rajono "Hegelmann" players demonstrated their advantage with a 3-1 victory over Vilnius "Žalgiris" at the end of the round. Leo Ribeiro scored an excellent goal and provided an assist in that match.
In all the season's matches, the blue and white team conceded the first goal, but responded with accurate strikes themselves.
Usefulness. A pleasant surprise in the "Hegelmann" club was the 20-year-old Njoya Abdel Kader from Cameroon, who played in the starting lineup for the first time last Sunday.
The Cameroonian has stood out with a productive action for the third consecutive match, although this year he has only played 178 minutes so far.
