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In the most interesting match of the 34th round of the Lithuanian championship, two teams fighting for the silver medals met on Saturday afternoon - the recently dethroned champions Panevėžys "Ekranas" and Vilnius "Vėtra", who had hopes of rising higher from third place. The Panevėžys team celebrated a minimal victory and secured the silver medals.
Panevėžys Aukštaitija stadium, 560 spectators Referee - Gediminas Mažeika 1 - 0 32' [1 - 0] Donatas Petrauskas
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Skroblas; Michalčuks, Kučys (83' Kučys), Savėnas, Tomkevičius, Petrauskas (77' Varnas); Kavaliauskas, Pogreban (87' Saulėnas)
"Vėtra": Žutautas; Sasnauskas, Raliukonis, Žudys, Barmoš; Šernas, Preikšaitis, Miloševski, Juška (65' Lovčev); Azizi (18' Litvinas (55' Talancev)), Kuznecov
Before the match with "Ekranas", the news of Algis Jankauskas' loss until the end of the season had further depleted "Vėtra" due to injuries. In the match in Panevėžys, the Vilnius team was also missing the injured full-back Robertas Vėževičius.
“Vėtra” started the game more actively, while “Ekranas” tried to counterattack. Later, the game leveled off and mostly took place in the middle of the field. In the 30th minute, the hosts managed to break through - “Vėtra” players lost the ball in the center of the field and “Ekranas” launched a quick counterattack, which ended with Donatas Petrauskas skillfully redirecting the ball into the goal.
After the missed goal, "Vėtra" responded with dangerous attacks. In the 38th minute, Sergejus Kuznecovas received the ball in the penalty area and shot while falling - the "Ekranas" goalkeeper excellently played and prevented the goal. Shortly after, danger arose for the Panevėžys goal from Dejan Miloševski's penalty kick, but he failed to equalize the score. The first half ended with "Ekranas" holding a minimal lead of 1-0.
Immediately after the break, the “Ekranas” goalkeeper Arvydas Skrupskis again saved his team by deflecting a very precise shot from D. Miloševski into the corner of the goal. In the 60th minute, the "Vėtra" goalkeeper Vaidas Žutautas was forced to demonstrate his skills, saving a dangerous shot from Sergeaus Pogreban.
At the very end of the game, “Vėtra” missed another opportunity to equalize - D. Milošeskis accurately passed the ball to S. Kuznecov in the penalty area without any defense, but the most successful “Vėtra” forward failed to take advantage of the excellent chance, and his shot was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper A. Skrupskis.
"Ekranas" players defeated "Vėtra" with a score of 1-0 and secured the silver medals, while "Vėtra" remained in third place and can secure it in the remaining three matches if they earn just one point.
After the match, "Vėtra" coach Aleksandras Tarchanovas said: "It was a battle of equal opponents. Neither team created many chances, the opponents capitalized on one of them and won. We have problems with the squad, injuries have depleted the team, and it affects the game. I think we will fight for third place. At the moment, this position reflects our capabilities. "Kaunas" and "Ekranas" have stronger squads, better organized, with more equivalent substitutions."
