During the added time, the first goal scored by Linas Klimavicius in the A league championship brought a victory for Vilnius' "Zalgiris" against the underdog "Jonava" team. Despite losing to the champion team twice this season, the team from Aukštaitija managed to score the first goal in the third round matchup, but suffered a bitter defeat - 1:2 (1:1).
Although "Zalgiris" rushed to the hosts' goal from the first minutes, they only threatened with a long shot by Slavko Blagojevic, which was easily caught by Povilas Valincius.
Almost the first longer attack by "Jonava" in the 13th minute unexpectedly pushed forward. Tomas Salamanavicius passed the ball to Klaudijus Upstas, who managed to open the scoring in the match from a very acute angle after Donovan Slijngard fell to the ground.
The Zalgiris team recovered from the setback in the middle of the half. Egidijus Vaitkunas, who actively contributed to the team's attacks, forced P. Valincius to parry the ball with a long shot, which was immediately sent into the net by Darvydas Sernas. After consulting with the referee team, they decided to disallow the goal.
The unpleasant period for the champion team in the match did not end there, as "Zalgiris" had to make a forced substitution, as Mantas Kuklys could no longer continue due to injury.
However, in the 29th minute, the Vilnius team managed to equalize the score. After a perfect pass from Elivelton, D. Sernas scored his goal, becoming the most productive player for Zalgiris.
Despite this, the guests did not stop and continued to seek ways through the dense "Jonava" defense, but did not create any significant threats.
After the break, both teams focused more on their attacks. After Tadas Eliosius' raid and pass towards the goal, Laurynas Stonkus managed to block Maxim Marusic's shot sacrificially. On the other side of the field, Eduardas Zevnerovas redirected a dangerous shot by S. Blagojevic with his head.
As the hour mark approached, during the hosts' quick attacks, Armantas Vitkauskas parried M. Marusic's shot not very successfully, as the ball almost reached the goal line and Laurynas Stonkus tried to send it into the net, but Mamadou Mbodjis managed to clear it just in time.
After a scuffle and discussions, "Jonava" hoped for a penalty for dangerous play, but the referees awarded only a corner kick. During the corner kick, Kiril Aleksijan, aiming for the crossbar, lacked precision.
Soon, all the hosts' fans were on edge when M. Marusic rose in front of the goal but failed to hit the target against A. Vitkauskas. Immediately afterwards, K. Upstas had a chance to score, but his goal was disallowed for offside.
After withstanding the wave of Jonava's attacks, the champions were close to scoring in the 75th minute, when T. Eliosius saved the team after S. Nyiadzi's shot, managing to parry the ball from his goal line.
A few minutes later, "Jonava" was reduced to ten men, as L. Stonkus received his second yellow card for a foul. After this episode, emotions ran high on the field, with more physical play and mistakes, leading the referee to show cards more frequently.
Increasing the pressure, "Zalgiris" extended their victory during the added time through the referee. During the corner kick, D. Slijngard brilliantly dribbled past the entire defensive line and found an open L. Klimavicius, who confidently took his chance.
