TOPsport A league round review: champions' decline continues

2024-06-20 12:50 © E. Žaldario

After the midweek matches, there was one change in the "TOPsport A lyga" tournament table.

Couldn't hold on. Alytus DFK "Dainava" in the Lithuanian championship failed to overcome FA "Šiauliai" - the match in the capital of Dzūkija ended in a 2:2 draw.

Interestingly, the Šiauliai team for the second consecutive match erased a two-goal deficit and played a draw. "Dainava" failed to maintain the advantage identified in the 6th round, when they played a draw with Gargždai "Bangą" with the same result.

Debut. Coach Mindaugas Čepas, who was disqualified and replaced in the technical area by Marius Gurskis, had to make a forced substitution already in the first half.

As Deividas Šešplaukis could not continue the match, 17-year-old Danielius Jarašius was thrown into the fight, making his debut in the "TOPsport A lyga". Meanwhile, Davis Ikauniekas, scoring his 8th goal, became the sole leader of the snipers.

Half. The football players of Vilnius region's "TransINVEST" mobilized and smashed the reigning champion "Panevėžys" 3-0 down to the bottom of the table.

Panevėžys were unrecognizable in the first 45 minutes, the pressure from the debutants led to a two-digit number of strikes, and it was the biggest victory of the Vilnius region team this year.

Change. In Širvintos, teams faced goalkeeper injuries - for the second match in a row, the third "Panevėžys" goalkeeper Danielis Bukelis played, a similar situation occurred with the "TransINVEST" team.

Simone Moschinas was not registered for the match, and the second goalkeeper Sergijus Melašenka suffered an injury in the first half, so 23-year-old Ernestas Černiavskis made his debut in the "TOPsport A lyga", repelling two opponent's strikes.

Section. Vilnius "Žalgiris" won their fifth consecutive victory, the largest this season - a 4-0 defeat of Telšiai's "Džiugas".

The second round also went well for the Vilnius team, as they earned 21 points in it. Despite playing fewer matches, the footballers of Kaunas region's "Hegelmann" are surpassed by Žalgiris with an 11-point advantage.

Returned. The previously fragmented "Džiugas" team is slowly filling up in June - after more than a month, one of the leaders, Christianas Bella, returned to the team.

The Cameroonian's return is timely, as in the last five matches, the unfavorable Džiugas team will play against four teams close in the tournament table until the beginning of July.

Goal. Marijampolė's "Sūduva" again delighted head coach Dovydas Lastauskas with their scoring ability. Despite scoring a couple of goals, they could not maintain the victory, as the match against "Kauno Žalgiris" ended in a 2:2 draw.

During the match, the fastest goal of the season was scored when Ukrainian Ivan Zotko headed in a corner kick by Žygimantas Baltrušis at the end of the first minute.

Rectified. "Kauno Žalgiris" arrived in Marijampolė with almost a double-digit number of important footballers missing, so young players had the opportunity to show themselves, one of them being 18-year-old Nidas Vosylius.

In the second half, a foul by the Zalgiris player in his penalty area resulted in the opponents converting a penalty, although 7 minutes later N. Vosylius scored a great long-range shot. This was the player's first goal in the "TOPsport A lyga".