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Lithuania's national team started the year 2006 with a victory. In the first match of the year, Lithuanians played away against Albania and celebrated victory thanks to goals scored by Mantas Savėnas and Tomas Danilevičius.
Albania 1 - 2 Lithuania 38' [1 - 0] Adrian Aliaj (pen.) 39' [1 - 1] Mantas Savėnas 45' [1 - 2] Tomas Danilevičius
Composition of the Lithuanian national team: Malinauskas; Paulauskas, Žvirgždauskas, Skerla, Stankevičius; Mikoliūnas (85' Kalonas), Miceika (90' D.Žutautas), Savėnas (65' Pilibaitis); Danilevičius (88' Lukšys), Radzinevičius; Poškus (75' Žaliūkas)
The field at the Tirana stadium was of very poor quality, and this was reflected in the beginning of the match, as both teams had difficulty adapting to such conditions and threatening the opponent's goal. One of the first shots was taken by Saulius Mikoliūnas, but his attempt was off target.
Midway through the first half, Robertas Poškus had a hundred percent opportunity on the left side, but instead of passing to his teammates, the Lithuanian striker chose to shoot and missed over the crossbar. The Albanians also responded with a dangerous attack - Igli Tare's header was just next to Mindaugas Malinauskas' goal.
In the 39th minute, after a mistake by Mantas Savėnas on the edge of the penalty area, a penalty kick was awarded to the Lithuanian goal and Adrian Aliaj, who converted it, put the hosts ahead. However, their lead lasted just a minute, as the same M. Savėnas rectified his mistake - his shot from about 20 meters ended up in the top corner of the opponent's goal.
The game became completely open and soon after the Albanians' penalty kick, M.Malinauskas brilliantly saved his goal, and a second goal scored by the hosts' team was disallowed for offside. A few minutes later, T.Danilevičius missed a shot, while Albania's attack was interrupted due to a mistake against the Lithuanian goalkeeper.
As the end of the half approached, Lithuania was brought forward by the team captain Tomas Danilevičius, who, demonstrating good athletic form, took the ball from the opponent on the right side of the penalty area and struck a powerful shot into the far corner of the goal. Just before the break, R.Poškus had another chance, but after sprinting on the edge, he hit the ball too hard and Albanian goalkeeper Arjan Beqaj managed to save.
With heavy rain pouring at the start of the second half, the hosts pressed the visitors to their goal and had several chances to score, but the closest to a goal was the Lithuanian team - in the 57th minute of the match, S.Mikoliūnas was pushed in the penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty kick to Albania. R.Poškus took on the task of converting it, but the forward continued to struggle and his shot was saved by goalkeeper A.Beqaj.
Midway through the half, the visitors had to defend themselves somehow, as a ricocheted shot after the hosts' attempt changed direction and confused the goalkeeper, ending up in front of Albanian striker Erjon Bogdani, but at the last moment, the Lithuanian defenders managed to eliminate the danger.
In the 65th minute, Klodian Duro broke through towards the goal but missed completely, while on the other side of the field, Marius Stankevičius' shot hit the post. Later, the Lithuanians had to retreat to defense, and goalkeeper M.Malinauskas successfully defended their goal twice, while a mistake by the goalkeeper on the other end prevented Albania from scoring.
At the start of extra time, another shot by the hosts was off target, while in a counterattack by the visitors, P.Lukšys, free on the side, failed to make a precise pass. The result remained unchanged - Lithuania's national team, not the strongest lineup, successfully passed the test of the friendly match.
