In the Virslīga first match of the day FK Grobiņa in a rollercoaster of a game came back from a goal down, did not hold a lead and in the end won the game against BFC Daugavpils 3-2. Iranian forward Arwin Kalmarzy the hero as he scored the last two Grobiņa goals.
Last season, BFC Daugavpils won three out of four league games against FK Grobiņa, so it was historically a relatively handy opponent for the Latgale side. Last week’s Matchday 1 performance against FK Tukums 2000 made them a slight favorite coming into this game.
Meanwhile Grobiņa had not won the last 13 league games dating back to last season, with one draw last week against FS Jelgava and 12 defeats to end their 2024 season.
BFC Daugavpils were better at the start. Japanese right back Shunsuke Murakami had a great chance to score at the start of the game, but his try went over the bar. Meanwhile, at the end of the first half, the Japanese were again in the epicenter. He made a great run on his right side and passed the ball to the Lizunovs, who missed his shot. It went straight to Kone, who flicked the ball in the goal to give Daugavpils a 1-0 lead.
At the start of the second half, the first real chance was for Grobiņa as they went on to a counter-attack which ended with Rodrigo Gaučis’ shot which was saved by Jānis Beks. As in the game against Jelgava in the first round, Grobiņa again came out much better in the second half. And in the 55th minute it paid off. A lazy pass was intercepted by Grobiņas Jānis Krautmanis, he passed to Kamarzy who left it for Grobiņas last season’s top goal-scorer Devids Dobrecovs who scored his first of the season 1-1.
A few minutes later, another costly turnover by Daugavpils led to Grobiņa’s goal. This time, former BFC Daugavpils player Oļģerts Raščevskis intercepted the pass, passing the ball to the box. Unguarded was Arwin Kalmarzy, who had enough time to think where to shoot as he was all alone in front of the goal. He made no mistake, giving Grobiņa the lead 2-1.
In the 84th minute Daugavpils got the equalising goal as FC RFS loanee Ceti Taty with a volley after Grobiņa player tried to clear the ball after the corner kick beat Vladislavs Lazarevs.
But the celebrations were short for Daugavpils as Arwin Kalmarzy scored again. Bekili crossed the ball from the right side, hit the bodies in front, and got straight to the striker who scored his second of the game and ultimately the game-winning goal.
Manager Viktors Dobrecovs and Grobiņa fans can breathe easily now as the monkey is off the back. The 13-game streak without a win comes to an end.
And it is a good time to have something to cheer for as the next game for Grobiņa will be the Dienvidkurzemes derby against FK Liepāja on Sunday, while BFC Daugavpils will try to surprise champions FC RFS the day before.
FK Grobiņa vs BFC Daugavpils – 3:2 (0:1)
Goals: Dobrecovs 56′, Kalmarzy 64′ 88′ | Kone 41′, Taty 84′
Yellow Card: Lazarevs 51′, Rupeiks 70′ | Kone 71′, Diedhiou 73′
GRO: Lazarevs – Sidorovs, Družiņins, Bekili – Raščevskis, Fjodorovs, Kļuškins (Rupeiks 11′), Galata (Krautmanis 46′) – Dobrecovs (Sdaigui 82′), Gaučis (Steinfelder 89′) – Kalmarzy (Knapšis 89′)
DAU: Beks – Kudeļkins, Williams, Taty – Murakami, Diakite (Mihaļcovs 58′), Ivanovs, Cucurs (Harzha 90+2′) – Diedhiou, Kone – Lizunovs (Fofana 70′)
Referee: V.Spasjonņikovs
| # | Club | GP | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1 | FC RFS | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 2 | FK Metta | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 10 |
| 3 | Riga FC | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | BFC Daugavpils | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 5 | FK Liepāja | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | FK Auda | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 | FK Tukums 2000 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 5 |
| 8 | FS Jelgava | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 5 |
| 9 | SK Super Nova | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 | FK Grobiņa | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -6 | 4 |