On Matchday 3 of the Latvian Virslīga, the first Liepāja derby of the season took place. FK Liepāja secured a dominant victory over FK Grobiņa. Meanwhile, Riga FC dropped points for the second consecutive game, finishing in a 1-1 draw against FS Jelgava.
Last season, the Liepāja derby – contested between FK Liepāja and FK Grobiņba – was one of the most anticipated matches in the Virslīga calendar. In 2024, both teams split their four league encounters, each winning two games.
On the previous matchday, FK Liepāja held FK Tukums 2000 to a draw, while FK Grobiņa achieved their first win of the season, staging a comeback against BFC Daugavpils.
In today’s match for Liepāja, two key players returned: forward Bruno Melnis and midfielder Marin Lausic, both of whom had missed the previous game. Their absence was felt in the lackluster performance against Tukums, but with their involvement today, Liepāja looked revitalized. The opening goal came in the 14th minute when Andriy Korobenko scored from outside the box with a stunning shot, marking his first goal for the club since moving from Valmiera FC.
As the first half progressed, Liepāja added two more goals. Swiss forward Tresor Samba took a free kick from a sharp angle, catching the goalkeeper off guard as it found the net instead of going wide. Samba was involved again shortly after, providing a corner kick that Vjačeslavs Isajevs headed in, extending the lead to 3-0.
Just before halftime, FK Grobiņa managed to pull one back when Iranian striker Arwin Kalmarzy pounced on a loose ball after his initial shot hit the crossbar and scored from close range. This marked Kalmarzy’s third goal in two games, while Danijel Petkovic conceded his first goal of the season.
In the second half, FK Liepāja sealed the match with another set-piece goal—this time their third of the game. Kirils Iļjins took a free kick from the left side, crossing the ball to an unmarked Djibril Gueye at the far post, who beat Grobiņa’s goalkeeper Lazarevs, making it 4-1.
With this win, FK Liepāja boasts two wins and one draw from three games, placing them second in the league table, while FK Grobiņa remains with three points.
As teams head into the international break, FK Liepāja will face FC RFS in a clash of the league leaders after the break, while FK Grobiņa will host FK Metta on March 30.
FK Liepāja vs FK Grobiņa – 4:1 (3:1)
Goals: Korobenko 14′, Samba 25′, Isajevs 40′, Gueye 84′ | Kalmarzy 45+2′
Yellow Card: Iļjins 26′, Lausic 44′ | Rupeiks 61′, Krautmanis 65′ Sdaigui 66′
LIE: Petkovic – Sorokins, Babic, Isajevs, Iļjins – Dodo (Domjanic 88′), Lausic (Vientiess 71′), Korobenko, Samba (Patijčuks 80′) – Melnis (Simic 80′), Gueye (Ro.Meļķis 88′)
GRO: Lazarevs – Sidorovs, Družiņins, Bekili – Raščevskis (Sdaigui 46′), Fjodorovs (Steinfelder 65′), Rupeiks, Galata (Knapšis 78′) – Dobrecovs, Gaučis (Krautmanis 46′), Kalmarzy (Bethers 82′)
In another match yesterday, a surprising result unfolded in Jelgava as FS Jelgava played to a 1-1 draw against Riga FC. Riga found themselves in a tough spot early on when Gauthier Mankenda received a straight red card for a foul on Jelgava midfielder Kristers Penkevics. Despite being down a man, Riga took the lead in the second half when Eduards Dašķevič’s cross was finished by Reginaldo Ramires.
However, the lead was short-lived. Just two minutes later, Rihards Bečers made a great run, setting up Mārcis Peilāns, who equalized with a shot from the penalty area. This result was crucial for Jelgava, while Riga continues to drop valuable points early in the season, having drawn their last game 2-2 against FK Auda.
FS Jelgava vs Riga FC – 1:1 (0:0)
Goals: Peilāns 65′ | Ramires 63′
Yellow Card: Dvorak 90+4′ | Musah 58′ Red Card: Mankenda 11′
JEL: Dvorak – Ullman (Liepnieks 42′, Kašica 68′), Muhammad, Purs, Yuzvak – Pētersons, Penkevics (Ivanovs 62′), Holoubek, Boroduška – Bečers, Peilāns
RIG: Zviedris – Ngom (Regža 82′), Musah, Černomordijs, Jurkovskis – Ankrah – Mankenda, Galo (Siqueira 73′), Grimaldo (Diop 73′), Pena (Dašķevičs 46′) – Ramires (Contreras 88′)
In Daugavpils, defending champions FC RFS secured a controversial 2-1 win against a depleted BFC Daugavpils side. RFS took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to a goal from Žiga Lipušček in the 32nd minute and another from Darko Lemajič shortly after. Lemajič’s goal, however, came after he controlled the ball with his hand, an infraction that the referee missed, as there was no VAR available.
Despite missing several key players, including goalkeeper Jānis Beks and on-field players Valērijs Lizunovs, Mohamed Kone, and Ceti Taty, BFC Daugavpils kept fighting. Seventeen-year-old Maksims Kopilovs scored his first Virslīga goal in the 73rd minute in his debut match, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome, and RFS maintained their perfect league record after three games. Meanwhile, BFC Daugavpils faced their second consecutive loss after winning their opening match of the season.
BFC Daugavpils vs FC RFS – 1:2 (0:2)
Goals: Kopilovs 73′ | Lipušček 32′, Lemajic 39′
Yellow Card: Fofana 59′ | Mareš 76′
DAU: Žuravļovs – Kudeļkins, Williams, Skrebels (Kopilovs 64′) – Murakami, Diakite (Barkovskis 64′), Ivanovs, Mihaļcovs – Diedhiou, Fofana (Garzha 84′) – Pačepko (Kaušelis 55′)
RFS: Ondoa – Savaļnieks (Odisharia 73′), Stuglis, Lipušček, Mareš – Panič – Zelenkovs, Karashima , Porsan-Clemente (Nagasawa 68) – Lemajic, Talla (Ikaunieks 46′)
| # | 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 |