November 23, 2022
Whilst the world was focused on the Spain vs Costa Rica and Belgium vs Canada matches in the World Cup, the 2022 Lithuania A-Lyga season played to its conclusion. All 6 matches were streamed live on the A-Lyga website.
Going into the 36th and final round of matches of the season, defending champions FK Zalgiris had already wrapped up their 10th title, being 24 points clear of their nearest challenger. However, below them four sides were battling for the three places in the Europa Conference. FC Hegelmann and Kauno Zalgiris were level on 60 points, FK Panevezys were a point behind, whilst fifth placed FK Riteriai were a further point behind, but as they were playing at Hegelmann an away win would guarantee European football for them.
Kauno faced a trip to champions FK Zalgiris, so were also in jeopardy of missing out, although FK Panevezys, with a home match against winless FK Jonova looked in pole position to claim one of the three available slots.
Below zero temperature conditions, with snow being swept off the playing surfaces helped keep the crowds down, but if Panevezys thought three points were a formality, they had a rude shock in the 11th minute when an innocuous low cross somehow found its way to Lubas at the back post, who slid in for a simple finish for only the 12th goal of the season for Jonova.
Panevezys hit back immediately and after Nicaraguan striker Ariagner Smith, previously mentioned in these diaries with Belarus side Smorgon and Latvians Spartak Jurmala, had a lob rebound off the post, Brazilian Elivelto was on hand to score with a spectacular acrobatic scissor-kick after 18 minutes.
If that was an eye-catching finish, Panevezys added an even better one in the 28th minute. Sirvys’ cross into the area was headed up into the air by Smith, for ex-PAOK Salonika and Panathinaikos Albanian midfielder Ergys Kace to send an even more spectacular scissor-kick past the Jonova keeper.
Rather than the expected cake walk Panevezys received a jolt when Kace blotted his copy-book by receiving a second yellow card in the 31st minute, and their Brazilian keeper Broetto was called upon to make to smart two saves to keep their lead for the half-time interval. However, despite being a man down they avoided any major alarms in the second half to clinch a place in Europe and achieve a best ever league finish of third.
With Kauno Zalgiris needing at least a point to secure European football, they made an outstanding start at champions FK Zalgiris, romping to a first half 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Austrian midfielder Philipp Schnellnegger and a penalty from international midfielder Gratas Sirgedas, much to the delight of their 30 or so travelling supporters who had braved the cold. Such was the visitor’s dominance they could easily have been leading by more.
Ex-Nijmegen and Botev Vratsa Dutch midfielder Anton Fase added a third in the second half, which the Zalgiris keeper really ought to have kept out, to give what looked to be a guaranteed top three finish, but two goals in 6 minutes left Kauno needing to hang on for the final 7 minutes. Hang-on they did, and were rewarded with Europa Conference football next season.
With Riteriai needing a win in Kaunas against Hegelmann, their chances were not looking too promising at half-time with the scores level at 0-0, after Hegelmann had dominated the first half. However, with the Hegelmann back four sleeping, and their keeper rooted to his line, Mindaugas Grigaravicius stole in to score from close range 6 minutes into the second half, and a major upset looked on the cards when more slack defending allowed Gytis Paulauskas to fire home from 6 yards in the 54th minute.
With Hegelmann themselves now facing elimination from a top 4 finish they quickly pulled one back with ex-Belshina and Torpedo Zhodino defender Samuel Odeoibo heading the ball over the line from a few inches, and with just over 20 minutes remaining Japanese midfielder Karashima equalised from 25 yards, sending a loose bouncing ball into the corner. With 20 minutes to turn the match around, Riteriai were unable to make the required impact, and so missed out on European football as Hegelmann took fourth place.
In the other two games of the round, 2019 champions FK Suduva played out a 1-1 draw at home to Dziugas Telsiai, who were already guaranteed of being in the relegation play-off, in an indoor arena. In a game of little meaning, Suduva missed several gilt-edge chances before Dziugas defender Tomas Rapalavicius slid in to divert the ball past his keeper for an own goal.
With 70 minutes played, a cross from the left beat several players to leave Tomas Rapalavicius with a straight forward steer from 6 yards to level the scores. Suduva contrived to miss two good chances to win the game, and top scorer Kule Mbombo was obviously offside when finishing in added on time, to leave to score at 1-1. Dziugas now face Neptuna Klaipeda over two legs for the right to stay in the A-Lyga.
The final match of the season would have no impact on the final places in the table, which saw FK Banga Gargždai and FA Siauliai play out a 2-3 win for the visitors in a game where both sides were safe from the relegation play-offs. Siauliai took control of an entertaining first half thanks to two goals from Ukrainian Oleksiy Shhebetun, and one from Daniel Romanovskij, with Ernestas Stockunas having grabbed an equaliser for Banga. Robertas Vezevicius headed home a second goal for Banga in the 51st minute.
Banga’s hopes of salvaging anything from the match were extinguished by a second yellow card to midfielder Dovydas Norvilas. Banga were able to send a couple of long range effort on goal, but the Siauliai keeper wasn’t unduly troubled, and his side comfortably held on for the three points.
Round 36
FK Banga Gargzdai 2-3 FA Saiuliai ( att : 200 )
FK Panevezys 2-1 FK Jonava ( att : 600 )
FC Hegelmann 2-2 FK Riteriai ( att : 200 )
FK Suduva 1-1 FC Dziugas Telsiai ( att : 180 )
FK Zalgiris 2-3 Kauno Zalgiris ( att : 200 )
Season Summary
Champions FK Zalgiris went through the entire 36 game league season with just four defeats, to Kauno Zalgiris ( 1-2 and 2-3 both at home ), Panevezys ( 0-1 at home ) and at FA Saiuliai ( 0-3 ). Brazilian striker Renan Oliveria was the league top scorer with 17 goals after signing on loan from Ukrainian side Kolos Kovalivka. Other outstanding performers during the season included Nigerian forward Mathias Oyewusi ( 9 goals ), Ghanian midfielder Francis Kyeremah ( 7 goals ) and Croatian striker Josip Tadic ( 6 goals ). The league was won with 6 games to spare, and Zalgiris also won the Lithuanian Cup, beating Hegelmann 2-1 after extra time in the final.
After these diaries covered Kauno Zalgiris’s 0-3 home defeat to Suduva in May, they were languishing in 6th place. However, a remarkable transformation of just 3 losses in their final 23 matches saw them claim a second place finish, their best ever in the A-Lyga, that had looked so unlikely after the opening third of the season. Ex-Hearts veteran midfielder Linas Pilibaitas appeared in all 36 league matches, but came off the bench 28 times ! Anton Fase was the top scorer, with 9 in 17 appearances, but 17 different players found the net during the season for Kauno.
Panevezys led the table after 12 games having lost just once. However, they were unable to maintain that form over the whole season, and lost another 9 times in 24 matches. Nicaraguan Ariagner Smith was their top scorer with 8 goals ahead of Bulgarian Nasko Milev, who had joined the club from Dziugas, on 7, whilst ex-Vitebsk Brazilian midfielder Wanderson made 30 appearances. Ex-Ajax and Real Sociedad defender Jeffrey Sarpong appeared 34 times and defender Linas Klimavicius ( 37 caps ) was in the most recent national squad.
Hegelmann’s 4th place finish represented their best ever placing in the A-Lyga. They too started the season with only one defeat in their opening 12 matches. They had a settled squad, with 14 players appearing 27 times or more. Ex-Gorodeya and Gomel Serbian midfielder Lazar Sajcic scored 7 times but their star of the season was midfielder Vilius Armanavicius ( 6 caps ) with 13 goals. Hegelmann had four players called up to the Lithuania squad for the Baltic Cup this month but Vilius was not one of them. Instead, striker Augustinas Klimavicius ( 6 caps ), defenders Vilius Armalas ( 1 cap ) and Klaudijas Upstas ( 2 caps ), and keeper Ignas Plukas ( 1 cap ) were selected.
Riteriai were in 5th or 6th for most of the season, and were just unable to breach the gap to grab 4th place despite ending the season unbeaten in their last 5 matches. Midfielder Rokas Filipavicius was their leading scorer with 10.
Sixth place represented a major under-achievement for Suduva and was the first time they had failed to qualify for Europe since 2014/15. Runners-up in 2021, when these diaries featured their 3-0 win at Kauno they looked to be recovering from a slow start to the season and ready to challenge for their customary place in the top three. However, striker Said Hamulic, so impressive against Kauno, was sold to Polish side Stal Mielec after 6 goals in 13 appearances. DR Congo striker Kule Mbombo did find the net 11 times as one of the few bright spots for the side from Marijampole.
FA Saiuliai will be satisfied with 7th in their first ever season in the A-Lyga. They are a football academy and all of their squad are Lithuanian, with the exception of top scorer Oleksiy Shhebetun, who is Ukrainian. Midfielder Daniel Romanovskis found the net 9 times. The highlight of their season was probably their 3-0 home thumping of Champions Zalgiris as they went through the second half of the season with only home one defeat in 9 games.
Banga Gargzdai secured safety with one match to spare by beating Jonova 2-0 at home to move 4 points ahead of Dziugas. They won only 6 games all season but did beat Kauno ( 3-0 ) and Hegelmann ( 1-0 ) at home. Midfield veteran Robertas Vezevicius is still going strong, with 9 goals in 27 games.
For most of the season Dziugas Telsiai looked certainties for the relegation play-off but run of three wins and a draw out of five matches gave them hope of overhauling Banga until two losses made it mathematically impossible with just one game remaining. Pericles played 21 times, they’ll be hoping there won’t be a repeat of his Funeral Oration after the play-offs……..
Newly promoted Jonova probably set some kind of records, with no wins, just three draws ( Panevezys at home, Banga and Dziugas away ), 103 goals conceded and a goal difference of minus 91. 46 players were used during the season.
Top Scorers :
Renan Oliveira Brazil FK Zalgiris 17
V Armanavicius Lithuania FC Hegelmann 13
O Shhebetun Ukraine FA Siauliai 13
Kule Mbombo Congo DR FK Sudova 11
R Filipavicius Lithuania FK Riteriai 10
Anton Fase Netherlands Kauno Zalgiris 9
Mathias Oyewusi Nigeria FK Zalgiris 9
D Romanovskis Lithuania FA Saiuliai 9
R Vezevicius Lithuania FK Banga Gargzdai 9
Lithuanian Sides in Europe
2021 champions FK Zalgiris achieved a record-breaking season for Lithuanian sides in European competition. After squeaking past Kosovans Ballkani after extra-time, they created a huge surprise by beating FK Malmo home and away, before succumbing 0-5 to Bodo-Glimt in Norway. Dropping down to the Europa League they suffered an extra-time elimination by Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad, which meant demotion to the Europa Conference group stages, where although they finished bottom, the registered away draws at Slovan Bratislava and FC Basel, and a home win over Armenian side FK Pyunik.
FK Suduva’s European adventures were ended at the first hurdle with home and away 0-1 defeats to Danish side Viborg FF, whilst Kauno Zalgiris were eliminated by Slovak side FK Ruzemberok 0-2 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw in Lithuania. Panevezys were similarly eliminated 0-2 on aggregate after a 0-0 home draw with Moldovan side Milsami-Orhei
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