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On Thursday evening in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Vilnius' "Žalgiris" met the local team "Pyunik" in the second round of the Europa League qualifying play-offs.
The first match in Vilnius ended favorably for the Lithuanians with a score of 2 - 0, so the Žalgiris players could afford to even lose in this match.
In the first half, the home team were more active with the ball and tried to create attacks, while the Vilnius players sought to attack the opponent's goal with counterattacks.
The young and ambitious Armenian team's attacks bore fruit at the beginning of the second half. After a substitution, Viulen Ayvazyan found himself alone against goalkeeper Armantas Vitkauskas and the ball ended up in the net.
After this goal, there was a threat of the Žalgiris footballers losing their two-goal advantage at home. A 2 - 0 Armenian victory would have led to extra time.
As the match neared its end, experienced Andrius Velička earned a penalty kick for Žalgiris, which was successfully converted by Mantas Kuklys, securing a ticket to the third stage of the Europa League qualifiers.
In the third qualifying round, Žalgiris will face the Polish team "Lech" from Poznań, known for their aggressive fans.
"Pyunik" 1 - 1 "Žalgiris"
(Aggregate score 1 - 3)
55' [1 - 0] V.Ayvazyan
88' [1 - 1] M.Kuklys (penalty)
