November 12, 2022
The 2022 Lithuania A-Lyga season played to its conclusion today. All 6 matches kicked off at the same time, 14.55 local time, and all were streamed live on Bet365.com. Live coverage on the A-Lyga website and the Optibet A lyga TV YouTube channel was geo-blocked in the UK but the full games were available within minutes of the final whistle, and highlights a couple of hours later.
Round 36
Going into the 36th and final round of matches of the season, FK Panevezys had already secured their first ever title, although the defunct FK Ekranas from the city of Panevezys had previously won 7 titles.
Defending champions FK Zalgiris trailed by 14 points but were guaranteed second place, and three sides were still in with a chance of third place and the final place for Europa Conference football in 2024/25. With Second Division FK Transinvest unexpectedly winning the Lithuanian Cup, fourth place would no longer be good enough to qualify for Europe this year.
FC Hegelmann and FA Saiuliai were joint third but in Lithuania, if sides are level on points at the end of the season, the head-to-head record between the sides is the separator. With two wins a piece, Hegelmann had the edge with 9 vs 8 goals scored in the 4 matches they had played. Saiuliai therefore needed to better Heglemann’s result.
However, Kauno Zalgris, three points behind, were not totally out of the race. A home win over Hegelmann would take them above Hegelmann on head-to-head, and they would also leapfrog Saiuliai on a better head-to-head record, should the Academy side lose at home to Banga.
Saiuliai would only have themselves to blame if they were to miss out on a place in the Europa Conference, as they lost 1-2 the Cup Final to FK Transinvest. Furthermore, a run of seven games without a win with 5 draws had enabled Heglemamm to make up a 9 point deficit. Last week Saiuliai threw away a 3-1 lead at Dziugas to drop two points whilst Hegelmann chalked up a 2-0 home win over Zalgiris.
At the bottom, Riteriai were two points adrift of Dziugas Telsiai, knowing that a win at a Suduva side with nothing but pride to play for would take them above Dziugas, should they lose at champions Panevezys. If Riteriai were to win and Dziugas drew, then Dzuigas would go into the promotion play-off on goal difference unless Riteriai were to win by 7 goals, as in the head-to-head the two sides played out four draws, indicating there is very little between them !
FK Panevezys 0-0 FC Dziugas Telsiai ( att : 350 )
Kauno Zalgiris 4-2 FC Hegelmann ( att : 600 )
Silkaitis ( 26 ), Girdvainis ( 30 ), Kucys ( 70 ), David ( 95 ); Matulevicius ( 55 ), Odeoyobo ( 62 pen )
FA Saiuliai 3-0 FK Banga Gargzdai ( att : 812 )
Shchebetun ( 16 ), Micevicius ( 40 ), Romanovskij ( 53 )
FK Suduva 0-3 FK Riteriai ( att : 321 )
Popovic ( 3 ), Filipavicius ( 66 ), Odutayo ( 83 )
FK Zalgiris 1-0 Dainava Alytus ( att : 1,000 )
Novikovas ( 28 )
Kauno duly recorded the victory to keep their hopes alive, although in an exciting game they were pegged back by Hegelmann after taking a two goal lead, but recovered to restore their two goal advantage. However, Saiuliai’s return to form in beating Banga ensured the academy team took third place, three points ahead of both Kauno and Hegelmann.
Dziugas obtained the point they needed against the lacklustre champions Panevezys. They were grateful that Georgian Nika Kacharava somehow shot over from inside the 6 yards box and indebted to keeper Moschin, who made a brave close-range block to deny Rincon in added on time. Consequently, Riteriai’s triumph over Suduva, which for some reason was played indoors, was to no avail.
In the round’s one dead rubber, Novikovas’ curling free-kick settled a drab encounter in favour of Zalgiris.
Team By Team Summary
Champions FK Panevezys, located 135km north of the capital Vilnius, went through the entire 36 game league season with just one defeat, a 1-2 reverse at Zalgiris in round 15 at the end of May. Unlike last season where they led the table after 12 games but faded to finish third, this time they were able to maintain their form throughout the year, going unbeaten at home and dropping points in just 5 draws from 18 games.
Ex-Sputnik Nicaraguan striker Ariagner Smith ( 15 caps ) was their top scorer for the second year running with 14 goals whilst ex-Ajax and Real Sociedad defender Jeffrey Sarpong scored 6 times and topped the league table for assists with 14. Defender Pijus Sirvys ( 10 caps ) found the net 7 times. Keeper Vytautas Cerniauskas ( 4 caps ) was ever present until missing the final game of the season, Colombian midfielder Sebastian Rincon, son of Freddy Rincon, contributed 6 goals, the same number as ex-Gillingham, Hampton and Richmond, and Kingstonian Congolese striker Noel Mbo.
In addition to Sirvys and Cerniauskas, defenders Linas Klimavicius ( 41 caps ) and Markas Beneta ( 20 caps ) and midfielder Matijus Remeikis ( 2 caps ) were in the most recent Lithuania squad.
Of some of the mainstays of last seasons’ Panevezys team, Bulgarian striker Nasko Milev is now with Kosovan side Gjilani after a spell with North Macedonians Shkupi, whilst ex-Vitebsk Brazilian midfielder Wanderson is now playing for Araz Naxcivan in Azerbaijan.
When FK Zalgiris re-signed midfielder Yuri Kendysh at the start of the season, some people might have put their mortgage on Zalgiris retaining their league title, seeing that the Belarussian had won the league he was playing in every year since 2015, receiving medals with Zalgiris, BATE Borisov, Sheriff Tiraspol, Shakhtyor Soligorsk and Riga. However, the investment would have been lost as Zalgiris failed to have a convincing campaign, and lost 7 times. The last time they did this was back in 2019.
Home losses were recorded against struggling Dziugas Telsiai as well as Panevezys and Kauno Zalgiris, whilst they returned home pointless after visits to Suduva, Saiuliai, Panevezys and Heglemann. As mentioned above though, they did inflict the only defeat on Panevezys.
On paper the Zalgiris squad looked weaker than in the previous season with Brazilian 17 goal league top scorer Renan Oliveria and influential Ghanian midfielder Francis Kyeremah moving to Bosnian side Sarajevo, plus veteran Croatian striker Josip Tadic returned back home to play in the Croatian second division.
Nigerian forward Mathias Oyewusi stepped up after 9 goals in 2022 to become the league’s highest scorer with 19 goals but received little support. Romanian Liviu Antal was signed mid-way through the season, having played for the club in 2020, and scored 4 times in 5 appearances. Kendysh scored 4 times in 24 appearances whilst ex-Torino and Suduva Argentinian playmaker Nicolas Gorbasov scored only once.
Three Zalgiris players were in the most recent national squad, midfielders Arvydas Novikovas ( 91 caps & ex Hearts and Bochum ) & Paulius Golubickas ( 22 caps ), and ex-Brighton and Hove Albion Under 23 defender Kipras Kazulovlas ( 5 caps ), all three of whom made the most appearances for Zalgiris in the season. Keeper Edvinas Gertmonas ( 8 caps ) and Ovidijus Verbickas ( 33 caps ) were also called up.
With their 3rd placed finish, FA Saiuliai improved on 7th in their first ever season in the A-Lyga last year. They are a football academy and all of their squad are Lithuanian, with the exception of two Ukrainians, one of which was last season’s top scorer Oleksiy Shchebetun, who added 6 more goals this season. Midfielder Daniel Romanovskis ( 9 caps ) was again in good goal scoring form with 9 goals this time around, but their golden boot was forward Eligijus Jankauskas ( 9 caps ) with 14 goals.
Saiuliai’s season was virtually the opposite to that of Hegelmann, losing only once in their opening 19 matches, at Panevezys. At this point the gap between them and Hegelmann was 18 points. The next 16 matches though yielded only 4 victories ( included the awarded game against Dziugas – see below ), 7 draws and 5 defeats, including two at the hands of Hegelmann, to start the last round in fourth place behind Hegelmann. However, the 3-0 win over Banga secured European football for the first time.
Defender Rokas Leikatas ( 6 caps ) plus Romanovskij and Jankauskas were members of the recent national squad.
Kauno Zalgiris finished the season strongly, going unbeaten in 15 matches to the end of the season. They also started the season well, falling to just one loss in their first 7 games. However, four defeats in 5 matches in April and May, to Hegelmann, Saiuliai, Panevezys and Zalgiris de-railed their campaign and left them 11 points from third place after 13 rounds.
Just like in 2022 a top three finish looked unlikely after the opening third of the season but this time they fell just short, and they missed out on qualifying for European football after 5 years in a row.
Ex-Hearts veteran midfielder Linas Pilibaitas had joined FK Transinvest whilst Anton Fase, top scorer last season with 9 goals, joined Polish side LKS Lodz midway through the season. Midfielder Gratas Sirgedas ( 17 caps ) was Kauno’s top scorer with 11 goals followed by defender Edvinas Girdvainis ( 46 caps ) with 9 then Spanish midfielder Xabi Auzmendi on 7 goals
Girdvainis and midfielder Artur Dolznikov ( 4 caps ) were in the most recent national squad, with midfielders Sirgedas and Karolis Uzela ( 5 caps ) and forward Armandas Kucys ( 5 caps ) all making appearances for Lithuania during the season.
Hegelmann’s 4th place finish last season represented their best ever placing in the A-Lyga so it would have been a disappointment to have ended up 5th this year. Their 2023 campaign was definitely one of two halves. After 17 games they had won 7 but lost 10 times to sit in 5th place but 15 points adrift on Zalgiris and Saiuliai who were in joint second place. However, they improved to lose only twice in the next 18 games, but then fell short on the final day
Their star of last season, midfielder Vilius Armanavicius ( 6 caps ) with 13 goals, left the club to join Kazakh side Caspiy Aktau but after a disappointing spell by the Caspian sea returned to Lithuania to join Kauno. Ex-Gorodeya and Gomel Serbian midfielder Lazar Sajcic is still with the club but only made 13 appearances. Ex Belshina and Torpedo Zhodino Nigerian centre-back Samuel Odeoyobo made 35 appearances but ex Spartak Trnava and Celje Croatian striker Filip Dangubic was their main source of goals with 18. Hegelmann’s squad also include ex-Panevezys Brazilian centre-back/left-back Hugo Figueiredo and ex-Riteriai and Kauno Brazilian forward Michael Thiuque.
Defender Klaudijus Upstas ( 4 caps ) was the only Hegelmann representative in the last national squad although striker Augustinas Klimavicius ( 6 caps ) and defender Vilius Armalas ( 2 cap ) won caps during the season.
After narrowly avoiding the relegation play-off last season, Banga Gargzdai had a much more comfortable season this time around with 10 wins to settle into mid-table obscurity. Three wins a-piece over Suduva, Dziugas Telsiai and Dainava Alytus, plus one over Riteriai were enough to keep them away from trouble. Two draws with Kauno Zalgiris were perhaps the highlights of their season. Influential 37 year old midfield veteran Robertas Vezevicius was still going strong, with 31 appearances.
After a sixth-place finish last year, seventh this season was another disappointment for Suduva, representing a second consecutive failure to qualify for Europe, having previously enjoyed 7 European adventures in a row. Twenty-one league matches were lost during the campaign and they had the worst away record in the division with just 3 wins and 3 draws. Latvian midfielder Aivars Emsis scored 5 goals and Ukrainian defender Artem Federov previously played for Moldovan sides Petrocub and Dinamo Auto. Serbian centre-back Aleksandr Zivanovic was the only survivor from the side that played against Zalgiris in the 2020 title decider.
Despite only one win in their last 14 matches, newly promoted Dainava Alytus, located 110km south-west of Vilnius, were never in serious trouble of being dragged into the relegation battle. Their highlights were probably a 1-0 home win over Heglemann and a 5-0 home thrashing of Riteriai. Ukrainian midfielder Stanislav Sorokin was their top scorer with 5 goals.
Dziugas Telsiai survived last season by winning the relegation play-off against Neputunas and now have to do the same against Kaunas based Be1 NFA. Telsiai is in the Lithuanian region of Samogitia, located 190km north-west of Kaunas, and 285km from the capital Vilnius. After a surprise 3-2 win at Zalgiris in their first match of the season, they only drew twice in their next 10 games, until a 2-0 victory at home to Hegelmann. They were bottom of the table at this point.
After round 19, Dziugas were three points clear of Riteriai in the basement and they then embarked on a decent run, losing just once in 6 games, beating Dainava and at Banga, and after a 0-0 draw at Kauno Zalgris they were 5 points from the bottom. Perhaps a turning point in their season came in the next match at Siauliai, where a 1-0 victory was overturned by the Lithuanian FA as Dziugas played between the 88th and 90th minutes with only two Lithuanians on the pitch, when the requirement is to field a minimum of three local players at all times.
Since that set-back, Dziugas had not won a match, but five draws in the 10 games kept them out of the automatic relegation place. Brazilian Ribeiro Vinicius was their top scorer with 5 goals, and their cosmopolitan squad contained players from Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Ghana, Portugal, Finland, Angola and Kazakhstan plus three others from Brazil.
After qualifying for Europe six times since 2015, the struggles of Riteriai were slightly unexpected, especially after their 5th place finish in 2022. Midfielder Rokas Filipavicius was their leading scorer in 2022 with 10 goals but only managed 4 in 32 appearances in 2023, but was still their joint top scorer along with Serbian midfielder Nikola Popovic.
They started the season with 6 games without a win, but victories over Hegelmann ( 1-0 away ) and Suduva ( 1-0 at home ) appeared to have put them on an even keel and into 7th place after 9 matches. However, no wins in 21 left them 9 points adrift of the relegation play-off with 6 matches remaining, but which two wins and a draw kept them still with hope going into the final round.
Attendances :
The average attendance in the A-Lyga in 2023 was 575, a significant increase on the average of 372 in 2022. The best supported side were FK Zalgiris, whose crowds increased to a whopping average of 1,014 from 382 in 2022.
Saiuliai were next at 865 ( 604 in 2022 ), with newly promoted Dainava next with an average of 860. Champions Panevezys attracted an average of 662 ( 441 in 2022 ).
The highest crowd of the season was 2,557 for the meeting of Dainava and FK Zalgiris, with 2,200 present for Saiuliai vs FK Zalgiris, then 2,000 were in attendance for FK Zalgiris and Panevezys.
Top Scorers :
M Oyewusi Nigeria FK Zalgiris 19
F Dangubic Croatia FC Hegelmann 18
E Jankauskas Lithuanian FA Siauliai 14
A Smith Nicaragua FK Panezezys 14
G Sirgedas Lithuania Kauno Zalgiris 11
D Romanovskij Lithuania FA Siauliai 9
Lithuanian Sides in Europe
Champions FK Zalgiris had achieved a record-breaking season for Lithuanian sides in European competition in 2022 by reaching the Europa Conference group stages. This time around they eliminated North Macedonian champions Struga in the first qualifying round after a 0-0 draw at home and then winning 2-1 away after falling a goal behind with 14 minutes left to play. However, they were edged out in the second round by Galatasaray, losing 0-1 in Istanbul after a 2-2 in Vilnius.
Dropping down to the Europa League, Zalgiris were outclassed by Swedish side Hacken, going out 1-8 on aggregate, and against Ferencvaros in the Europa Conference they received a similar battering, 0-7 on aggregate.
In the Europa Conference, FK Hegelmann’s European adventures were ended at the first hurdle with a 0-5 home defeat to North Macedonian side Shkupi, with a 0-0 away draw in the second leg being scant consolation except as a small contribution to the UEFA coefficient points.
Panevezys squeezed past Milsami-Orhei with a 1-0 away win after drawing the first leg 2-2, having been eliminated the year before by the Moldovan side. However, they lost narrowly to Hapoel Be’er Sheva 1-2 on aggregate in the next round, losing the first leg 0-1 in Israel.
Kauno Zalgiris were exempt to the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference where Lech Poznan were too strong, and they went out 1-5 on aggregate.
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