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On Saturday, three more round of 16 second leg matches took place in the LFF Cup. At the Kaunas artificial turf stadium, "Šilutė" defeated "Nevėžis" 2-1, while at Vilnius' "Sportimos" court, "Žalgiris-2" unexpectedly beat "Atlantas" 2-1. However, both teams were unable to stage comebacks in the second leg matches and were eliminated from the tournament. In another match held at "Sportimos," "Vėtra" crushed "Lietava" by a margin of six goals.
One of the most interesting round of 16 matches was between "A Lyga" clubs Kėdainiai "Nevėžis" and "Šilutė." In the first encounter, Kėdainiai secured an unexpected two-goal lead, but in the return match in Kaunas, the Šilutė team sought revenge and Nerijus Mačiulis put them ahead in the 23rd minute.
In the middle of the second half, "Nevėžis" striker Mindaugas Daunoravičius equalized the match, and although Mindaugas Grigalevičius revived "Šilutė's" hopes with a goal eight minutes before the end, they were unable to score a third goal that would have forced extra time, allowing "Nevėžis" to progress to the quarterfinals.
The other match between Vilnius' "Žalgiris" reserves and Klaipėda's "Atlantas" lacked similar intrigue, as the away team had won the first leg 5-0. Nevertheless, the young Žalgiris players attempted to stage a comeback, which they surprisingly managed by scoring two goals through Andžejus Falčikas, while Dainius Žernys scored the only goal for "Atlantas."
Lastly, at the "Sportimos" court, "Vėtra" faced Jonava's "Lietava." "Vėtra" dominated the match from the start and scored six goals. The first goal came in the 22nd minute from Russian debutant German Lovčevas, followed by Sergiy Kuznevov doubling the lead in the 31st minute. After the first half, "Vėtra" led 2-0.
In the 51st minute, "Vėtra's" advantage became overwhelming as Algis Jankauskas scored a powerful long-range shot into the top corner, making it 3-0. Four minutes later, the score became 4-0 as Dejan Miloševski scored with a header following a dangerous shot from Nerijus Sasnauskas that was saved by the goalkeeper. The Macedonian newcomer at "Vėtra" scored another goal in the 65th minute to make it 5-0, receiving a cross and heading it into the net. Robertas Vėževičius sealed the match with a goal in the final minute to give "Vėtra" a 6-0 victory. The first leg between "Vėtra" and "Lietava" ended in a 3-0 win for the Vilnius team.
"Vėtra's" coach Edgaras Gessas expressed his delight after the match that his team converted more of their chances: "When there is no pressure for results, the team played relaxed and showed beautiful football. Just like in the first round of 16 match, we created many chances, but this time we converted them more successfully – which is reflected in the result of the match."
As reported on the official "Vėtra" website, E. Gessas did not want to single out any specific player. According to the coach, the whole team played an interesting and beautiful game, resulting in a great victory.
LFF Cup round of 16 statistics:
Kaunas artificial turf stadium, 150 spectators
Referee - Gediminas Mažeika
Kėdainiai "Nevėžis" 1 - 2 "Šilutė"
(First leg 3-1, aggregate score 4-3)
23` [0 - 1] Nerijus Mačiulis
64` [1 - 1] Mindaugas Daunoravičius
82` [1 - 2] Mindaugas Grigalevičius
"Nevėžis": Jazokas; Rimavičius, Slepakovas (81` Dobilas), D.Adomaitis, Pinskis, Kestenis, Smilginas (71` Macianskis), Bezykornovas, Juknevičius (55` Valančius), Daunoravičius, V.Stankevičius (63` Rokas).
"Šilutė": Kilijonas; Z.Butkus, Pacevičius, Gražys, Gaurilovas, Judickas, Juozaitis, Petrenko, Mačiulis, Marozas, Grigalevičius.
Vilnius "Sportimos" court, 130 spectators.
Referee - Algimantas Kontvainas
Vilnius "Žalgiris-2" 2 - 1 Klaipėda "Atlantas"
(First leg 0-5, aggregate score 2-6)
32` [1 - 0] Andžej Falčik
37` [1 - 1] Dainius Žernys
77` [2 - 1] Andžej Falčik
"Žalgiris-2": A.Surgautas; Ukrinas, D.Tamošauskas, Kornejevas (45` Jakaitis), Ribakovas, Budraitis, Falčik, Lipskis (89` Vaitkūnas), Remėza, V.Radevičius (Sidorovas), Romašovas (88` R.Kučys).
"Atlantas": Maksvytis (45` Valius), Ramonas, E.Žukauskas (63` Gnedojus), Žernys, R.Maciulevičius (73` Šarūnas), Navikas, Petreikis, Bartkus (63` Grigaitis), Morozovas, Žvingilas (45` Tautvydas), Trakys.
Vilnius "Sportimos" court, 150 spectators
Referee - Arvydas Makarevičius
Jonava "Lietava" 0 - 6 Vilnius "Vėtra"
(First leg 0-3, aggregate score 0-9)
22` [0 - 1] German Lovchev
30` [0 - 2] Sergyi Kuznevov
51` [0 - 3] Algis Jankauskas
56` [0 - 4] Dejan Miloshevski
66` [0 - 5] Dejan Miloshevski
90` [0 - 6] Robertas Vėževičius
"Lietava": Skorupskas; Česnovičius, M.Regelskis, Vizbaras (78` Janonis), Šulinskas; Auglys (41` M.Giedraitis), Šichranov, Korsakas, Fiodorovas (61` Kudelis); Babenskas, Nazarko (51` Damašitskas)
"Vėtra": V.Žutautas (46` Kacinkevičius); Žudys, Raliukonis, A.Jankauskas, Sasnauskas (67` Talancev); Preikšaitis (64` Šernas), Vencevičius, Božinovski, Miloševski; Lovčev (55` Vaineikis), Kuznecov (54` Vėževičius)
