2024-07-25 22:03:19
“Green and white holiday in Cyprus” – with such a raised poster, the fans of “Žalgiris” welcomed the match.
After all, Žalgiris people were really in vacation mode for 16 minutes. “Pafos” players created one opportunity after another, but the Cypriot team failed to score a goal.
In the 16th minute of the match, the visitors had a wonderful opportunity to score, but Yukiyoshi Karashima managed to clear the ball from the goal line.
“Žalgiris” players, who successfully defended themselves from the opponent’s attack, rushed to a quick attack, the spearhead of which was Liviu Antalis. The Romanian made no mistake at the decisive moment and beat the opponent’s goalkeeper to put the Vilnius team ahead.
After the goal, Vladimir Cheburin’s students did not stop and continued to press the visitors from Cyprus. In the 24th minute, Žalgiris players managed to launch another quick attack, but Adama Fofana hit the post.
There was no need to grieve for a long time about the wasted opportunity. Just two minutes later, L.Antalis took advantage of a rough mistake by his opponents and disarmed “Pafos” goalkeeper Ivicas Ivušičius for the second time with a close shot.
In the second half, the first scuffles between the players and the first yellow cards began, and in the 62nd minute, Pafos eased the deficit. After raising the ball to the penalty area, the captain of the Cypriot club Jairo managed to score a goal.
During the rest of the match, the Cypriot footballers created one attack after another, but the Žalgiris team managed to resist and V. Čeburin’s students meet the next stage with a minimal advantage.
The second leg will be played on August 1 in Cyprus.
In the first round, Žalgiris beat the Finnish team Vasa VPS with a total score of 3:1.
“Pafos” players initially participated in the selection for the UEFA Europa League, but they recognized the superiority of the “Elfsborg” team with a total score of 2:8.
Before the match, “Žalgiris” coach Vladimir Čeburinas and team captain Ovidijus Verbickas hoped that the home walls would help to achieve a positive result.
“Second round, first match. We came to it by different paths. It’s not an easy opponent, but the mood is good,” said the coach.
“It’s great that we managed to take the first step towards our goal. Of course, the team understands that a difficult match awaits them. We are ready for it. We know what we have to do.
If we give one hundred percent and even more on the field, I think we will achieve a positive result”, said O. Verbickas.
2024-07-25 22:03:19