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In the first quarterfinal match of the LFF Cup on Saturday at Vilnius "Sportima" arena, the tournament finalists Vilnius "Vėtra" ended the match against the country's champion Panevėžys "Ekranas" in a draw after a dramatic equalizing goal at the end.
Vilnius "Sportima" arena, 750 spectators Referee - Vitalijus Kazlauskas Vilnius 1 - 1 Panevėžys 11' [0 - 1] Arūnas Klimavičius 90+3' [1 - 1] Donatas Vencevičius
"Vėtra": V.Žutautas; Žudys, Raliukonis, A,Jankauskas; Šernas (64' Talancev), Preikšaitis, Vencevičius, Božinovski, Miloševski; Kuznecov, Lovčev (22' Vaineikis)
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Mihalčuks (71' Kavaliauskas), Klimavičius, Skroblas, Paulauskas; Tomkevičius (86' Kučys), Savėnas, Saulėnas, Saulėnas (46' Petrauskas); Lukšys (83' Varnas), Pogreban
Both teams started the match openly and immediately began attacking each other's goals. The first good opportunity to score came in the 4th minute for "Ekranas" legionnaire Sergejus Pogrebanas, but after a mistake by the defenders, he failed to beat the goalkeeper Vaidas Žutautas.
In the 11th minute, the visitors from Panevėžys broke through - lifting a corner precise header, defender Arūnas Klimavičius scored a goal. Soon after, Povilas Lukšys had a chance to double the lead, but after passing the ball past V.Žutautas, he failed to head it into empty goal, and "Vėtra" also responded with a dangerous attack where their goal was saved by Arvydas Skrupskis.
Closest to the second goal before the end of the first half was once again P.Lukšys, but his strong shot was redirected by V.Žutautas with his fingertips towards the goalpost. Meanwhile, in the "Vėtra" team, the injured German Lovčev was replaced by Rolandas Vaneikis, but he failed to make a difference.
After the break, the home team's veteran R.Vaineikis actively participated in the game and made a precise pass to his partner in attack Sergejus Kuznecovas, but he failed to deal with the ball. The Vilnius team controlled the game and a few minutes later, the same R.Vaineikis had a great opportunity, but he failed to head the ball into the goal.
In the 76th minute, during an attack by "Ekranas," Sergejus Pogrebanas nearly scored off a pass from Manto Savėnas, and two minutes later, a penalty shot from "Vėtra" legionnaire Dejan Miloševski from 20 meters was very close to the target.
Just when it seemed like the Panevėžys team would take the victory, in the third minute of stoppage time, the home team's goalkeeper Donatas Vencevičius scored a fantastic penalty shot from 25 meters into the corner of the goal - "Vėtra" snatched a deserved draw and revived hope for the second leg.
