FA Šiauliai claimed their first Toplyga victory since 2 May, defeating 10-man FK Panevėžys 1-0 at home after the visitors were reduced to ten men inside the opening three minutes.
The match took a dramatic turn almost immediately when experienced Panevėžys goalkeeper Vytautas Černiauskas handled the ball outside his penalty area. Despite his protests, the referee had little hesitation in producing a straight red card, leaving the visitors to play nearly the entire match a man down.
Backup goalkeeper Arijus Bražinskas was introduced for his first league appearance of the season, but just two minutes after coming on he was picking the ball out of his net. Following a Panevėžys corner, Šiauliai launched a lightning-fast counter-attack, with Dāvis Ikaunieks unselfishly squaring the ball for Deividas Dovydaitis to tap into an empty net for his first league goal of the campaign.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Panevėžys created the better chance for an equaliser before half-time. Ernestas Burdzilauskas found Salomon Kouadio inside the box, but goalkeeper Gustas Baliutavičius reacted well to make the save and quickly gathered the loose ball.
Šiauliai had several opportunities to put the game beyond reach. Ikaunieks struck the crossbar with a close-range header, while Daniel Romanovskij was denied by Bražinskas after finding space inside the penalty area.
The home side came close again early in the second half when Ikaunieks header beat the goalkeeper, only for Nauris Petkevičius to produce a superb goal-line clearance to keep Panevėžys alive.
However, neither side managed to find another goal, and Šiauliai comfortably held on to record their first league victory in almost three and a half months.
Despite the win, Šiauliai remain ninth in the Toplyga table with 16 points from 24 matches, six points behind eighth-placed Hegelmann. Panevėžys stay seventh on 24 points.
Šiauliai return to league action next Monday away to TransINVEST, while Panevėžys travel to face Sūduva a day earlier.
FA Šiauliai vs FK Panevežys – 1-0 (1-0)
Goal: Dovydaitis 8′
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  FK Sūduva |
22 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 31 | 17 | 14 | 39 |
| 2 |  Kauno Žalgiris |
22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 41 | 16 | 25 | 38 |
| 3 |  Džiugas Telšiai |
24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 34 | 29 | 5 | 37 |
| 4 |  FK Banga |
23 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 36 |
| 5 |  Transinvest |
24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 32 | 1 | 36 |
| 6 |  FK Žalgiris |
22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 34 |
| 7 |  FK Panevėžys |
23 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 39 | -18 | 23 |
| 8 |  FC Hegelmann |
24 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 26 | 41 | -15 | 22 |
| 9 |  FA Šiauliai |
24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 50 | -27 | 16 |
