TransInvest Vilnius beat Žalgiris Vilnius 3-0 in the A-Liga's regular season round 32 on September 19th. It was not the outcome we expected — we had backed the visitors with a 43 per cent confidence level — but the match unfolded differently than the numbers suggested. By then the hosts were three points clear in third place, and Žalgiris sat fourth with 44 points after 28 games.
The visitors controlled possession at 58 per cent but could not find the net, while TransInvest made their moments count. Xabi Auzmendi opened the scoring in the 41st minute, and S. Milosevic doubled the lead five minutes after the break. M. Musolitin added a third in the 55th minute, and here's the thing — the visitors had more attacks, 130 to 116, yet their shots off target were just as numerous.
Substitutions came thick and fast after the first half, with D. Franke and N. Mihajlovic both replaced on the hour mark. D. Barauskas had come on in the 18th minute, and later Xabi Auzmendi was pulled off in the 75th. The yellow cards went to D. Franke, E. Girdvainis and H. Tanaka, while no red cards were shown. TransInvest hit the target four times from 22 shots, whereas Žalgiris managed only three shots on target from 14 attempts.
To be fair, the visitors pushed forward and created a few half-chances, but the accuracy was not there. TransInvest kept a clean sheet, and the clean-sheet run came to an end for Žalgiris after three away games without conceding. The hosts had three corners to the visitors' one, and offsides were negligible — two for the away side, none for the hosts.
The result means TransInvest extend their lead at third place, while Žalgiris are running out of games to close the gap. The table goes out of the window in these games, but the mathematics are clear — one point separates the two sides now. The visitors had not won since their 3-2 victory over Kaunas Žalgiris on September 16th, and this defeat extends that run.
