© EuroFootball.com
Great weather on Sunday attracted more than 2200 football fans to the first home game of "Šiauliai", and the local football players did not disappoint the fans, crushing the returnee Visagino "Inter" players with a score of 4-1 after a long break in the highest league.
Šiauliai municipality stadium, 2250 spectators Referee - Audrius Kancleris 4 - 1 Visagino 31' [1 - 0] Viktor Raskov 47' [2 - 0] Viktor Raskov 70' [3 - 0] Viktor Raskov 75' [4 - 0] Vaidas Viktoravičius 85' [4 - 1] Anton Naumov (11 m.)
Before the match, an intrigue arose, as there were even two former "Šiauliai" football players in the ranks of the Visagino team: Eduardas Tučinskij, who represented the yellow-blacks some time ago, and the Belarusian Viktor Afanasenko, who wore the shirts of the residents of Šiauliai last year. However, much to the amazement of the locals, the latter played not in his usual defensive position, but as a defender. Furthermore, an ex-Šiauliai player, Gintas Širmelis, also played in the ranks of "Inter".
Just before the match, Darius Magdišauskas made adjustments to his starting lineup and, according to unofficial data, Donatas Strockis replaced Mindaugas Lukoševičius on the field due to injury.
Šiauliai started the match very actively and had an indisputable advantage in the first 10-15 minutes with several opportunities to score goals. The Šiauliai players managed to score after playing for more than half an hour, when after a quick attack, Gediminas Butavičius passed the ball to Viktor Raskov, who shot weakly, but accurately into the goal.
The second goal was scored immediately after the break. V. Raskov took advantage of the ball in the penalty area received from the newcomer Manto Kuklys. The third goal was scored after another mistake by the "Inter" team defenders, and the 22-year-old Ukrainian scored his third goal. This was the first "hat-trick" in the championship, as last year in Šiauliai it was achieved in the third round by Ilja Galiūza.
The fourth goal in the match and the second in the championship was scored by the young Vaidas Viktoravičius, who appeared on the field just five minutes earlier, managing to snatch the ball directly from the unsuccessful opponent's goalkeeper's hands. Towards the end of the match, the guests managed to soften the result - M. Kuklys illegally stopped the opponent in the penalty area, and the referee's 11-meter penalty was successfully converted by Anton Naumovas.
This was the first victory for the "Šiauliai", who previously lost to Panevėžio "Ekranas" and FBK "Kaunas". Meanwhile, for "Inter", this was the second defeat this season, following a 2-3 loss to FBK "Kaunas" and a draw with "Šilutė".
