First League Round: Defended Fortresses and the Unyielding 'Tauras'

2025-05-26 15:39 © ZUMAPRESS.com

The anniversary 10th round of the "TOPsport Pirma lyga" championship was extremely favorable for the home teams. For the first time this season, all eight teams playing at home defended their strongholds.

Sentiments. After the weekend, Tauragės "Tauras" remained the only one out of 16 participants in the "TOPsport Pirma lyga" yet to taste defeat. Before facing Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis," which has been coached for several years, the current coach of Tauragės Darius Gvildžius was awarded the best coach of April in the league. "Tauras" didn't spoil the celebration for their strategist, although it was close. The hosts took the lead just before halftime, but shortly after, they made a rough mistake near their goal and pulled the ball from the net – 1:1. The guests defended successfully until the end of regular time, until in injury time, Brazilian Jorge Eduardo snatched victory 2:1.

Spanish Davidas Muslera Rodriguezas also triumphed against his former team. His team, Vilniaus BFA, defeated Jonavos "Be1" 3:0 in the academy derby. Despite the crushing score, the match in Širvintos could have gone in a completely different direction. At the beginning of the match, the Jonavos team had several good chances to score, but their efforts were cooled off by a header goal from Vilnius player Aidas Šidlauskas after a corner. Later, both teams had their chances, and BFA scored their two remaining goals right before the final whistle. "Today, 'Be1' played better than we did. I must admit that. But the most important thing for us is the 3 points and 'clean' goals," acknowledged D. Muslera.

The Cup. The victories of the closest pursuers did not disturb the tranquility of "TransINVEST" at the top of the league. The representatives of Vilnius district easily surpassed the significantly weakened "Kauno Žalgirio" B team 3:0 at home. The match between the league leaders took place a few days earlier than the others, as today (Tuesday), Marius Stankevičius' team will face a tough FPRO LFF Cup Round of 16 exam at home against one of the A league leaders, Kauno rajono "Hegelmann".

This Tuesday evening, "Jonava" will also be competing in the Cup. However, the Jonavos side faced a much easier opponent – the third league representative "Kazlų Rūdos" team. In the 10th league round, "Jonavos" players recorded their best scoring performance of the season with "Šiauliai" B. After a goalless first half, the hosts broke through the visitors' defense in the 51st minute, but midway through the half, Ugnius Vaitiekaitis restored the balance – 1:1. Driven by their many supporters, the Jonavos players did not give up, and their efforts were crowned with two beautiful long-range strikes at the end – 3:1.

The Žemaitai. Plungės "Babrungas" also played the most prolific match of the season. Last season's prize winners were already 2:0 up against Panevėžio "Ekranas" in the 8th minute. In the middle of the first half, Eimantas Abramavičius, who jumped unmarked in front of the goal, added some intrigue, but it didn't last long. The second strike from Marius Skirmantas helped the hosts pull away, and after the break, Nigerian Samsonas Bolaji celebrated his first goal in Lithuania – 5:1.

Standing in 5th place, "Babrungas" is one point behind Klaipėdos "Neptūnas." The seaside team defeated Mažeikių "Atmosfera" 1:0. The victory for Klaipėda was determined by a strike from Dariaus Zubauskas in the 39th minute, who launched a counterattack. The fighting Mažeikiai side also had their chances; they hit the crossbar once but gained nothing. "Atmosfera," which has fallen into a slump, has suffered five defeats in the last six rounds and has barely scraped together a single point.

The Referee. Kretingos "Minija" extended their winning streak to three, confidently defeating "Panevėžio" youth 2:0 at home. The referee Rasa Grigonė, who confidently directed this match, had to make several tough decisions. In the 56th minute, she awarded a penalty kick, which was converted by Julius Kasparavičius. Later, the referees had to closely evaluate a similar situation in the "Minija" penalty area, as a defending player nearly conceded a penalty for kicking the ball out. Another complex episode near the visitors' penalty area resulted in a free-kick for "Panevėžio" B.

There was no shortage of work for the referees in the last matches of the round either. In those games, Vilniaus "Žalgiris" B hosted Kauno rajono "Hegelmann" reserves on Monday. The youth from both clubs created such a whirlwind that the referees could barely keep up with counting the goals. Before halftime, the Vilnius team had established a convincing lead of 3:1, but their cards were shuffled by a red card received in the 78th minute. Left in the minority, the Žalgiris team conceded goals in the 88th and 91st minutes. Just when it seemed they wouldn’t be able to secure a win, in the 92nd minute, a header from Ugnius Simonavičius after a corner marked the score 4:3.