© EuroFootball.com
In the first round of the competition on Tuesday, the team of "Vilnius" met with the team of "Šilutė," who are neighbors on the tournament table. The capital club celebrated victory against "Vėtra," who is in fifth place, with the prominent performances of Brazilian player Rinaldo and Mindaugas Panka. Šilutė team found some consolation with a goal scored by Vadimas Petrenko.
2 - 1 53' [1 - 0] Rinaldo Neto 78' [2 - 0] Mindaugas Panka 89' [2 - 1] Vadim Petrenko
"Vilnius": Kijewski; Sokolovas, Artiomovas (46' Mrowiec), Everton, Rodnei; Lukša, Panka, Rinaldo (82' Khubutia), Radavičius; Muller, Adilson (20' Grudzinskas)
"Šilutė": L.Vertelis; Mockus (71' Marozas), Nesterenko, Juozaitis, Butkus; Papečkys, Pacevičius, Petrenko, Gražys; Grigalevičius, Rimkevičius
During the World Cup, the "Žalgiris" stadium gathered a very small number of spectators. Due to illness, one of the team leaders, Tomas Ražanauskas, could not help the "Vilnius" team. The away team started the match more actively, and the first attempt for victory from afar was made by the "Šilutė" legionnaire Bogdans Nesterenko, but the shot from 20 meters did not cause any major problems for goalkeeper Maciej Kijewski.
In the 11th minute, the defense of two Šilutė players on the right side of the penalty area was successfully beaten by the lively Brazilian Muller, but his shot towards the goal failed. In the 15th minute, Šilutė goalkeeper Laurynas Vertelis saved his team from a shot by Mindaugas Panka, and soon after a header shot was missed by Everton, and the goalkeeper repelled Rinaldo's attempt from afar as the away team attack continued.
In the middle of the half, the best opportunity to take the lead for Šilutė had the midfielder Tadas Papečkys, who deceived the opponent in the penalty area and shot from about 12 meters, but the shot was saved by M. Kijewskis. In the 32nd minute, “Šilutė” made another dangerous attack, but no one received a sharp pass from the flank, and the long-range shot was inaccurate. The rest of the half did not produce dangerous opportunities, and the players went to rest with a "dry" score line.
After the break, "Vilnius" maintained the initiative, and in the 55th minute finally scored the first goal - Ramūnas Radavičius broke through on the left side, passed the ball to the penalty area for M. Panka, and although his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, Rinaldo rushed to the loose ball and put the hosts ahead.
Ten minutes later, Mindaugas Grigalevičius had a great opportunity to equalize, but after a pass from the right flank, the Šilutė forward shot over the goal from a few meters away. "Vilnius" responded with a powerful Everton penalty kick just wide of the post, and in the 78th minute they doubled their lead - Rinaldo, the scorer of the first goal, found M. Panka with a precise pass in the penalty area, and he headed the ball accurately.
As the match neared its end, Muller tried to make the result even more crushing, but one of his goals was disallowed for offside, and a minute later, both the Brazilian and Vytautas Lukša's shots were repelled by the goalkeeper. This gave hope to Šilutė, and in the penultimate minute, Vadimas Petrenka softened the deficit, after his penalty kick the ball flew past everyone and ended up in the goal, but the home team maintained the lead and secured their third victory of the season.
