On Saturday, a friendly match between the Lithuanian and Russian national teams took place in the Russian capital. The Russians did not put up much resistance and Edgaras Jankauskas' team celebrated an easy victory with a score of 3-0.
The match started with a slightly more active game from the Russian hosts. Leonid Sluts' team tried to break through towards the Lithuanian goal with sharp passes, but the attempts were unsuccessful - offside was called.
After the first 10 minutes, the Russian attacks became more dangerous, but they failed to score against Vytautas Černiauskas' goal. The Lithuanians defended their goal against the opponents' attacks with rough play ending in fouls.
The first serious opportunity for the Lithuanians came in the 17th minute, when Saulius Mikoliūnas, a veteran of the national team, tried to beat the opponent's goalkeeper after a high pass from Fedor Černych. However, he failed to deliver a precise shot.
Later in the game, the ball spent more time in the Russian national team's half. In the 26th minute, another dangerous opportunity was created near the opponent's goal, but once again, S. Mikoliūnas' shot missed the target.
In the 37th minute, the most dangerous opportunity of the half arose for the Lithuanian national team. After a few passes played around the Lithuanian defense, a pass was made to Fedor Smolov, who took the first shot at goal, but he failed to score - V. Černiauskas reacted to the opponent's attempt.
In the 41st minute, the ball finally reached the goal. Unsteadily defending near the penalty area, Lithuanian players allowed the ball to reach Oleg Ivanov's feet, and he scored with an accurate shot, putting the Russians in the lead.
The second half started once again with pressure from the Russian team. L. Slut's coached Russians controlled the ball and played in the Lithuanian side, but they failed to create significant opportunities.
However, later on, the Lithuanians began to create opportunities again towards the Brazilian goalkeeper's goal. Fedor Černych was active on the right side, making several high passes into the penalty area. In the 59th minute, a sharp pass was made from the left side by Deimantas Petravičius after coming on as a substitution, but Vykintas Slivka was a few centimeters short.
Unfortunately, after a few attempts by the Lithuanian national team to score against V. Černiauskas' goal, the second goal was conceded. During a counterattack, the youngest player of the Russian national team, Aleksandr Golovin, scored an excellent goal in the area after coming on as a substitution.
In the 72nd minute, another goal was scored against V. Černiauskas' goal, as Denis Glushakov scored with a header after a corner kick. After the second missed goal, the Lithuanians "collapsed" and gave all the initiative to the Russians.
At the very end of the match, forward Deivydas Matulevičius had the opportunity to score, but his header was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, and the final result remained 3-0. This is the second defeat for the Lithuanian national team under E. Jankauskas.
Result:
Russia 3 - 0 Lithuania
41' [1 - 0] F. Smolov
61' [2 - 0] A. Golovin
72' [3 - 0] D. Glushakov
Starting line-ups:
Lithuania: Černiauskas; Andriuškevičius, L. Klimavičius, Mikuckis, D. Česnauskis; Verbickas, Žulpa, Slivka, Mikoliūnas, Černych; Spalvis.
Subs: Zubas, Šetkus, Beneta, Borovskis, Freidgeimas, Vaitkūnas, Lukša, Petravičius, Kuklys, Veliulis, Panka, Matulevičius.
Russia: Kritsiuk, Smolnikov, Ignashevich, A.Berezutski, Kombarov, Tarasov, Glushakov, Ivanov, Mamaev, Samedov, Smolov.
Subs: Lodigin, Guilherme, Dziuba, Ionov, Kokorin, V.Berezutski, Kuzmin, Šatov, Maksimov, Kerzhakov, Yusupov, Golovin.
