N. Kesminas: If this comforts Man Utd fans, there is such a club as Tottenham.

2026-09-08 10:29 © Stop kadras

The club football season is gaining momentum, and to discuss its current events and look at what lies ahead, the duo of the show "7 Added Minutes" – the legendary football commentator Nerijus Kesminas and former football player and commentator Ervinas Kvitkauskas – sat down again.

Last week, men's focus was on the UEFA Champions League starting this week. This time, the show's hosts delved into the peculiarities of the national European championships.

It started with their own backyard in Lithuania, where a fierce battle continues for both the title and European positions.

In the Lithuanian Championship – a rush of six teams

As the decisive part of the season approaches, intrigue is abundant not only in the title race. After the weekend matches, the leading Marijampole "Sūduva" has 48 points, "Kauno Žalgiris" – 42, Vilnius "Žalgiris" – 40, while the difference between the fourth-placed "TransINVEST" and the sixth place is merely one point: the Vilnius district club has 39 and both Telšiai's "Džiugas" and Gargždai's "Banga" have 38 points each.

"I don't remember such a Lithuanian championship, in terms of tension," Kesminas sighed. "At this stage of the season, there typically used to be two or three teams still fighting, but now realistically six teams have ambitions at least to fight for European positions."

Another huge step towards the title was taken by the surprising "Sūduva," dramatically defeating "TransINVEST" 2:1 away. The hosts played more actively in the first half and took the lead in the 59th minute – Xabi Auzmendi scored following a pass from Stefano Miloševičius.

However, Donatas Vencevičius's team turned the game upside down at the end. In the 90th minute, Lucky Tomas equalized after coming on as a substitute, and already in the 90+4 minute, in the last attack of the match, Amadou Sabo scored the winning goal after a corner.

"I would say that 'TransINVEST' played better until the goal," Kvitkauskas, who watched the match live, began his match summary. "After that, everything turned – the hosts tucked themselves into defense. After the match, I spoke with Edgaras Jankauskas, the head coach of the Lithuanian national team, and he also said it surprised him how tightly 'TransINVEST' defended."

When "Sūduva" was going up, I had no doubt they would reach the equalizer because it was brewing. The second goal was already completely, speaking in basketball terms, a buzzer-beater. The ref registered the goal and immediately declared the end of the match. It must be said that "Sūduva" had some luck in this match.

Last week, noting "Sūduva" as Lithuanian champions in his prediction, Kesminas has not changed his opinion. Moreover, his predicted top three is becoming clearer.

"Last week I improvised somewhat, but I truly believe the top three will be: first – 'Sūduva', second – 'Kauno Žalgiris', third – Vilnius 'Žalgiris'," the commentator was confident. "Everything is heading that way. Those three teams, with respect to the other six teams, I believe will manage to combine their strengths, which distinguishes them from the remaining clubs."

The Kaunas team, for its part, reminded everyone on Sunday why they remain the main pursuers of "Sūduva." Željko Sopičius's team crushed Telšiai's "Džiugas" with a score of 5:0 at home.

"Finally, a convincing victory that fans expect, considering the quality and depth of the team. However, it was striking that 'Žalgiris' coach Željko Sopičius started talking about fixture scheduling after the match and that he might lack players since they are playing every few days. What should Andrius Lipskis say after the match then?" Kvitkauskas smirked, referring to the coach of the much humbler resource Telšiai team.

Important three points were claimed by Vilnius "Žalgiris," who have not yet released their championship dream. The capital team FA "Šiauliai" broke through their resistance only during added time – in the 90+2 minute, Danny Lupano scored the only goal of the match.

"They played well, controlled the match. Of course, they scored very late; they should have done it earlier. After the match, Andrius Skerla highlighted this too – the victory was deserved, but it should have been calmer," Kvitkauskas assessed.

"Now the most important thing for them is the points," Kesminas briefly added.

In the "Premier" League – a vintage London derby

The central match of the England "Premier" league weekend was the London derby between "Arsenal" and "Chelsea." Xabi Alonso's team shocked the hosts right at the start – Morgan Rogers scored in less than two minutes.

However, "Arsenal" bounced back. In the 25th minute, former "Chelsea" player Kai Havertz equalized, and after the break, Martin Ødegaard scored the winning goal. In the episode, a crucial role was played by Havertz, who purposefully let the ball pass – this action was highlighted by Kvitkauskas.

"Realistically, Havertz scored both," he said. "The assist is credited to Tzoli, but that lifting of Havertz's leg and the whole expression that he was playing towards the ball and ultimately letting it go was a key episode."

Overall, Havertz is having a very good start to the season and has rightly displaced Gyökeres to the bench.

The quality of the match pleased both show commentators.

"Such quality matches are worth watching and watching because the football was vertical. There was no ball-pushing, and there weren't many chances, but all the action in the penalty areas looks very beautiful," Kesminas spoke.

"Indeed – vintage 'Premier' league football," Ervinas agreed. "First of all, I would pay my respects to Xabi Alonso's men, who came to the champions and played bravely, freely, trying to attack. And 'Arsenal' somewhat liberated themselves from Arteta's chains."

Overall, "Arsenal" so far plays more freely this season. I am not a fan of that team, especially the last few seasons, when they indeed played atrociously. Now it’s nice to watch them.

Although "Chelsea" suffered a defeat, Kesminas views Alonso's start positively and sees the London club among the contenders to return to the Champions League.

"You can already see Xabi Alonso's ideas; I believe they will definitely be a Champions League team. The fact is that the team is still in the search phase, but for now, they leave a sympathetic impression," he stated.

Without losses in England, "Manchester City" continues to stride forward. The Manchester club won 1:0 against "Coventry City", who returned to the "Premier" league, clinching their third victory from as many opportunities. The only goal of the match was scored by none other than Erling Haaland.

"The guests were somewhat lucky to only lose by one goal's deficit, as there were certainly more opportunities," Kvitkauskas said.

In Kesminas's eyes, the Manchester team currently looks like the most serious competitor to "Arsenal" in the title race.

"If we say that 'Arsenal' is the main contender to become champions, then 'Man City' is the team that is most likely to bite back," the commentator asserted.

A week earlier, the other Manchester club – "United" – crushed "Ipswich Town" 5:2 at home, with Bruno Fernandes scoring three goals and providing another assist in that match.

However, they failed to secure their second consecutive victory. In Liverpool against "Everton," Michael Carrick's men led twice but ultimately had to settle for a draw at 2:2.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles snatched the victory from "Man Utd's" hands in the 90+6 minute with an impressive long-range shot that disarmed the visiting goalkeeper.

"It somewhat seems like they are taking steps forward, but we see that it’s never easy for anyone away to 'Everton'," Kvitkauskas spoke about 'United'. "Of course, when you score a goal in the 88th minute, you should close out the match, but on the other hand, the goal that was conceded was cosmic. You don’t concede such every time. But for some reason, 'Man Utd' frequently concedes such goals."

Wishing strength to "Manchester United" fans, Ervinas had a consolation recipe.

"If it comforts you, there’s a club like 'Tottenham'," he cheekily chimed in.

The North London club played to a 0:0 draw away against Nottingham Forest and secured their first point of the season, but they remain without scored goals in three matches.

"Hooray," Kesminas reacted ironically to the point earned.

However, when the show's hosts began raising questions about Roberto De Zerbi's future, Kesminas became serious and urged not to rush to conclusions.

"We can recall Jurgen Klopp's example at 'Liverpool' or Pep Guardiola's success at 'Man City'. They were given time. In the 'Premier' league, there simply is no place for fidgeting with coaches. Either you give the coach the reins, or I don’t know..." Kesminas spoke.

Meanwhile, "Liverpool" finally claimed their first victory of the season. Andoni Iraola's team won 2:0 away against "Ipswich," with Alexander Isak scoring both goals within the first nine minutes of the match. Both assists were delivered by Cody Gakpo.

"With their attack, everything is quite alright – they score their two goals, but they need to fix their defense. There's a search for a center-back next to Van Dijk. You can’t say they have changed drastically or collapsed, but we’re talking about a team that was in a falling stage.

They currently need to dig their way out, well, I would say out of the pit because, in my opinion, they are no longer at the level of teams like 'Arsenal' or 'Man City'," Kesminas assessed.

"Inter" impressively salvaged themselves while Gasperini takes "Roma" to the top

In Italy, one of the most impressive matches of the weekend took place in Milan. "Napoli" put "Inter" in a knockdown with two quick goals to take a 2:0 lead.

However, in the 56th minute, Lautaro Martínez reduced the deficit, in the 82nd minute, Marcus Thuram equalized, and in the 90+1 minute, Lautaro scored his second goal and secured "Inter's" victory at 3:2.

"Good match, a lot of action," Kvitkauskas, who commented on the match, spoke. "'Napoli' was up 2:0 and it seemed that was it, but 'Inter' managed to quickly reduce the deficit at first – within a couple of minutes, you score a goal and bring yourself back into that context.

After the second goal, it was evident that 'Napoli's' players were running out of steam, while 'Inter's' players seemed like they had injected some kind of legal doping. It was clear that the hosts would climb and seek victory, and Lautaro succeeded."

Kvitkauskas's next point of attention is Bergamo's "Atalanta," a regular participant in European tournaments in recent years. However, after a long era under Gian Piero Gasperini, changes in coaching raise questions for Kvitkauskas.

"I don’t understand how you can go from Gian Piero Gasperini at first to Ivano Juric, then to Maurizio Sarri. Very strange decisions... It seems that if 'Atalanta's' club decisions aren’t right in the coming couple of years, they might return to the mediocre layer rather than that of a European team," he said.

Symbolically, this weekend, Sarri's "Atalanta" lost 1:2 to "Roma," managed by Gasperini. For the Italian capital club, this was their third win from as many matches, sharing first and second places with "Inter" with 9 points.