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The reigning champions of the A League secured their positions in the third round in a row - this time it was done by the Vilnius team "Vėtra," who, in a rescheduled home match of the 23rd round, took revenge on the vice-champion Panevėžys "Ekranas" for the defeat on Saturday and after a three-year break, won the bronze medals and secured a ticket to the next season's UEFA Intertoto Cup tournament.
23rd round Vilnius "Vėtra" stadium Referee - Vijūnas Vasiliauskas 2 - 0 64' [1 - 0] Darvydas Šernas 70' [2 - 0] Sergiy Kuznecov
"Vėtra": Žutautas; Sasnauskas, Barmoš, Preikšaitis, Usačiov; Šernas, Miloševski, Lovčev, Talancev (57' Vėževičius); Juška, Kuznecov
"Ekranas": Grybauskas; Michalčuks, Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Skroblas; Varnas (52' Saulėnas), Savėnas (55' Šlekys), Tomkevičius, Galkevičius; Kavaliauskas, Pogreban
In the match, Vilnius "Vėtra" could not be helped by defenders and captain Julius Raliukonis and Žilvinas Žudys, who celebrated their 31st birthday, so Aidas Preikšaitis had to move even further back into the field, while Andrejus Usačiovas played on the right side. Aurimas Kučys, disqualified, was also missing in the "Ekranas" ranks, his place was taken by Dominykas Galkevičius, while Egidijus Varnas replaced Donatas Petrauskas, who scored the only goal in the previous match.
The rainy Tuesday evening started cautiously for both teams, and the first shot on goal had to wait about 15 minutes when Vitalijus Kavaliauskas weakly kicked from the edge of the penalty area. Shortly after, a very dangerous attack responded by "Vėtra" but Darvydas Šernas' shot from the dribble flew over Paulius Grybauskas' guarded goal.
A few minutes later, Sergei Kuznecov's shot missed, while Egidijus Varnas' attempt did not cause bigger problems for goalkeeper Vaidas Žutautas in the other half of the field. The attacks of the residents of Vilnius were somewhat more dangerous, and after playing the 21st minute, after a high pass from D. Šernas from the edge, Sergei Kuznecov weakly headed the ball, and a minute later, D. Šernas' active shot was blocked by P. Grybauskas.
Halfway through, after a pass from German Lovčevo, S. Kuznecov, left unmarked, missed the goal with his head, while Mantas Savėnas had perhaps the best opportunity for "Ekranas", but his shot from 12 meters was off target. This was perhaps the last dangerous attack in the first half, as the teams entered a tough battle in the middle of the field and were unable to create anything closer to the opponents' goal.
After the break, the game did not change, and only in the 56th minute, the guests from Panevėžys managed to put more pressure on, but initially, after a beautiful combination, the shot was inaccurate, and shortly after another attempt, the ball flew over the hosts' goal. However, "Vėtra" scored a quick counter-attack that led to the first goal - after G. Lovčevo's pass from the right edge to the far post, D. Šernas beat the opponent's defense with his head and sent the ball into the goal.
The goal inspired "Vėtra" and six minutes later, the capital team doubled their lead when S. Kuznecov, receiving the ball in the penalty area, jumped against S. Grybauskas and skillfully beat the "Ekranas" goalkeeper with a precise shot. This was the 17th goal for the Ukrainian in the championship, making him the top scorer. After conceding the second goal, the residents of Panevėžys took the initiative and the opportunity to revive the intrigue in the match, after a corner, V. Kavaliauskas missed the target twice with uncertain attempts against goalkeeper V. Žutautas.
At the end of the match, the hosts could score once more, but D. Šernas' long-range shot was inaccurate, and with P. Grybauskas' mistake, S. Kuznecov missed the ball. "Vėtra" won while celebrating not only revenge against "Ekranas" but also securing the third position - with two rounds left, the Vilnius team lead the other capital club "Žalgiris" by eight points and became untouchable.
