Lucas de Vega brace secures Panevėžys victory over FA Šiauliai

Matchday 21 of the TOPsport A Lyga continued in Panevėžys, where the home side hosted visitors from the city of the sun — FA Šiauliai. The hero of the night was Lucas de Vega, whose brace secured a win for Panevėžys.

FA Šiauliai nearly stunned the hosts in the opening moments — just two minutes in, Eligijus Jankauskas found himself one-on-one with the keeper but failed to capitalize, as Vytautas Černiauskas made a crucial save. Panevėžys, however, made no such mistake at the other end. In the 10th minute, Lucas de Vega opened the scoring after connecting with an Ernestas Veliulis pass and, aided by a deflection, slotted the ball home.

In the 19th minute, both teams exchanged dangerous shots — Daniel Romanovskij tested Černiauskas again, while Ariagne Smith’s effort went straight at the FA Šiauliai goalkeeper.

Deep into first-half stoppage time, the visitors constructed a fluid attack starting from their own defense. The play ended with a shot from Gabrielius Micevičius, but Černiauskas once again stood tall between the posts.

In the 64th minute, de Vega struck again. Surrounded by multiple defenders, the Brazilian midfielder carved out space and doubled his side’s advantage with a composed finish.

FA Šiauliai thought they had pulled one back with 10 minutes to go, when Scotty Sadzoute found the net with a surprising strike into the bottom corner — only for the goal to be disallowed due to an offside call.

In the dying moments of the match, Šiauliai were looking for the consolation goal as Deividas Dovydaitis received a pass from Jankauskas and had a chance to score, but his shot lacked power and failed to trouble the keeper.

Following this result, Panevėžys climb to 28 points and catch FC Džiugas Telšiai in sixth place. Meanwhile, FA Šiauliai remain fourth in the standings with 32 points, suffering a setback in their push for a higher position.

FK Paņevežys vs FA Šiauliai – 2:0 (1:0)
Goals: de Vega 10′ 64′
PAN: Černiauskas, Dante (Keita 88′), Januševskis, Kerkez, Krasniqi, De Vega (Asante 90+2′), Grajfoner, Steponavičius, Smith (Vaicekauskas 66′), Elivelton (Asamoah 88′), Veliulis (Karvatskyi 90+2′)
ŠIA: Baliutavičius, Mandic, Gaspuitis, Dapkus, Jarašius (Sadzoute 75′), Benny Silva, Žebrauskas, Micevičius (Dovydaitis 67′), Romanovskij (Klimavičius 67′ Garbaliauskas 75′), Jankauskas, Djokic

A Lyga Matchday 21:

• 19.07.2025 – FK Žalgiris vs FC Džiugas Telšiai – 2:0
• 20.07.2025 – FK Paņevežys vs FA Šiauliai – 2:0
• 20.07.2025 – FK Sūduva vs FK Riteriai – 0:0
• 21.07.2025 – FK Kauno Žalgiris vs DFK Dainava Alytus – 19:30
• 13.08.2025 – FK Banga Gargždai vs Hegelmann FC – 19:00