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On Tuesday, the Lithuanian "A Lyga" championship started. Home teams had better luck, all of them winning their matches. The most impressive wins were achieved by Panevezys "Ekranas" and FBK "Kaunas", showing their ambitions to fight for the championship title again.
The first match of the championship took place in Vilnius, where the local team "Vetra" faced the debutant Kedainiai team "Nevezis". The Kedainiai team, who changed their coach just before the season, struggled in the first half - although A. Sivinskij scored a goal early in the match, the referee disallowed it for offside.
"Vetra" continued to dominate in the second half and defeated their opponents with 6 minutes left until the end of the match. A. Sivinskij scored the winning goal, celebrating by taking off his shirt, receiving a second yellow card for it and being sent off the field.
The players of Panevezys "Ekranas" had a strong start to the season, crushing the "Vilnius" club at home. The hosts took the lead in the 19th minute with a precise goal from the penalty area by P. Luksys, and soon G. Paulauskas doubled the lead with a header.
Later, the score increased in favor of the Panevezys team - M. Gardzijausko scored a goal that deflected off a defender and went into the net. "Ekranas" continued to play very successfully and in the 34th minute M. Savenas scored the fourth goal from a penalty kick.
"Vilnius" looked troubled, and after playing for almost an hour, A. Skroblas beat goalkeeper M. Kijevskis with a great shot, making the result overwhelming. However, the guests did not give up, and in the 73rd minute, M. Panka scored a consolation penalty goal for the Vilnius club.
Klaipeda's "Atlantas" achieved a minimal victory, defeating Marijampole's "Suduva" with a goal from R. Zvingila towards the end of the match. Meanwhile, Vilnius "Zalgiris" won at home with a two-goal lead against "Silute" - K. Jasaitis scored in the 42nd minute, and V. Kauspadas added another goal in the penultimate minute of the match.
The last match of Tuesday in Kaunas was between FBK "Kaunas" and "Siauliai". The hosts took the lead in the 3rd minute with a goal by R. Beniusis, and after half an hour, A. Velicka increased the lead.
In the 50th minute, R. Beniusis scored the third goal for the Kaunas team, and although D. Vasilkovas reduced the lead after seven minutes, G. Barevicius restored the almost overwhelming advantage. Towards the end of the match, R. Beniusis scored another goal and completed a "hat-trick", becoming the most productive player in the league.
Round 1 Statistics:
1 - 0
84' [1 - 0] Andzej Sivinskij
5 - 1
18' [1 - 0] Povilas Luksys
23' [2 - 0] Gediminas Paulauskas
26' [3 - 0] Mindaugas Gardzijauskas
34' [4 - 0] Mantas Savenas
58' [5 - 0] Alfredas Skroblas
73' [5 - 1] Mindaugas Panka (pen.)
1 - 0
84' [1 - 0] Rimantas Zvingilas
2 - 0
42' [1 - 0] Karolis Jasaitis
89' [2 - 0] Vidas Kauspadas
5 - 1
3' [1 - 0] Ricardas Beniusis
33' [2 - 0] Andrius Velicka
50' [3 - 0] Ricardas Beniusis
57' [3 - 1] Denis Vasilkov
59' [4 - 1] Giedrius Barevicius
83' [5 - 1] Ricardas Beniusis
