Today at 14:00 the 2016 LFF Cup final took place at the central stadium in Klaipėda.
The road to the grand final was reached by the teams of Marijampolė "Sūduva" and Vilnius "Žalgiris". Led by Valdas Dambrauskas, the Vilnius team defeated their opponents 2-0 and extended their dominance in Lithuania.
There were no serious chances created in the first 10 minutes, but the team with the ball was mostly Žalgiris. "Sūduva" was cautious, did not rush into attack, and played according to the conditions set by the Vilnius team.
In the 16th minute, the first serious chance was created by the Marijampolė team, when Tomas Radzinevičius was left unmarked and took a shot, but the ball flew past the goal.
Just a minute later, a very dangerous situation was created near the "Sūduva" goal, when after Mantas Kuklys' pass into the penalty area, fullback Donovan Slijngard struck just wide of the post.
After a few dangerous moments, the game became more cautious again. "Žalgiris" continued to dictate their terms and dangerously controlled the ball in the opponents' half, but the "Sūduva" team, wearing white shirts, disciplinedly performed their defensive duties.
At the end of the first half, "Žalgiris" was close to an impressive goal. After a corner kick by M. Kuklys, Vytautas Lukša sent the ball towards the goal from about 23 meters with one touch. However, the opponents' goalkeeper reacted to the shot.
The second half unfolded similarly. V. Dambrauskas' protégés dominated the field, but did not have one hundred percent chances.
In the 64th minute, the first goal of the match finally fell. After a pass from Saulius Mikoliūnas above the defenders, Žalgiris' forward Andrija Kaludjerovič headed the ball into the lower corner of the goal and put the capital team ahead.
After the missed goal, "Sūduva" had no choice but to push forward, and their attacks became more intense. In the 75th minute, T. Radzinevičius was close to equalizing, but he failed to make a precise shot at Armantas Vitkauskas' guarded goal in time.
In the 88th minute, "Sūduva" created another dangerous chance. After a set piece situation, Vaidas Slavickas was close to equalizing, but his header missed the target - flew wide of the post.
At the end of the match, the Marijampolė team began to fall apart - Algis Jankauskas and Marius Činikas received a red card each, and the final blow in added time from the penalty spot was delivered by M. Kuklys.
"Žalgiris" won the LFF Cup for the sixth time in a row.
Result:
"Sūduva" 0 - 2 "Žalgiris"
64' [0 - 1] A. Kaludjerovič
90+4' [0 - 2] M. Kuklys (penalty shot)
90' A. Jankauskas ("Sūduva") sent off
93+3' M. Činikas ("Sūduva") sent off
Starting lineups:
"Sūduva": Kardum, Činikas, Isoda, Leimonas, Veliulis, Radzinevičius, Švrljuga, Janušauskas, Slavickas, A. Jankauskas, Pavlovič.
Substitutes: Matuzas, Kecap, Akulinin, Antanavičius, E. Jankauskas, Jamak, Kardokas.
"Žalgiris": Vitkauskas, Vaitkūnas, Klimavičius, Mbodj, Slijgard, Kuklys, Blagojevič, Atajič, Lukša, Mikoliūnas, Kaludjerovič.
Substitutes: Klevinskas, Žaliūkas, Matoš, Pilibaitis, Chula, Ljujič, Elivelto.
