V. Čeburinas: it was hard to break through the defense

2024-08-31 02:48 © Elvio Žaldario

"Žalgiris" coach Vladimiras Čeburinas stated after the draw in Marijampolė against "Sūduva" that they struggled to break through the opponents' dense defense.

The Žalgiris players conceded the first goal in the first half and equalized in the second half, but the match ended in a draw, 1:1.

"The concentration at the beginning was high, but we conceded a pass from the flanks, and from that, the goal was scored. We tried to create pressure with a strong force. We tried to create chances. The opponent had a few dangerous counterattacks. It was difficult to break through the opponents' dense defense with 9 players. We tried, especially in the second half, there was a lot of pressure. We created attacks up to the penalty area. However, we couldn't finish them as we wanted. Even after the red card, it didn’t seem like we were missing a player; we had control. However, the most important thing is that we didn’t score and did not capitalize on our chances. What can we do, we move on. We will work on that. We can't recover the lost points," said V. Čeburinas.

Romualdas Jansonas played in the starting lineup for the second consecutive match, and after the substitution, Patrikas Matyžonokas got his chance.

"Jansonas had chances – one or two, he was active. He is still young, needs game experience, and that has to be gained on the field. Matyžonokas has strengths that we could utilize. However, it didn’t work out, the opponents defended low. The young players are growing, there are more young players. Šetkus has an injury, we hope for his return," said the coach.