Kaunas Žalgiris ground out a 3-2 victory over Žalgiris Vilnius in the A-Liga's 25th round on Wednesday. The result keeps the visitors in second place, three points clear of their hosts, who remain third after 27 matches.
Krekovic opened the scoring in the eighth minute before doubling his tally at the twenty. And here's the thing — that's the minute that stays with you, when the away side took control and looked comfortable. Vareika pulled one back just before the break, but Bilenkyi restored the lead early in the second half at fifty-one.
Both sides traded attacks without dominating possession. Home hosts registered 108 attacks with five shots on target, while the visitors managed 118 attacks and four on target. Shots accuracy sat at 26 per cent for the hosts and 31 for the away side. By then, the game had settled into a pattern neither team could break.
Four yellow cards came in the second half, with Mihajlovic, Lekiatas, Bosancic and Konatar all shown the card. The visitors also had five goal kicks compared to six for the hosts, and corners were level at seven apiece.
Before this match, the home side had taken just one point from their last three games, including a goalless draw with Suduva and a heavy defeat to Panevezys. The visitors, meanwhile, had won four of their previous five, including a 5-1 demolition of Suduva.
We had backed the away side to win with 53 per cent confidence. The prediction missed, and not through any lack of effort — the hosts simply refused to fold when they should have. That's football.
The result leaves Kaunas Žalgiris on 48 points and Žalgiris Vilnius on 44. Three points separate them with two matches remaining in the regular season.
