In the first match of Matchday 5 of the TonyBet Virslīga on Friday, FK Metta achieved an unexpected 1:0 victory against the reigning champions FC RFS thanks to a goal from U19 national team player Rūdolfs Kļavinskis. This win marked the end of RFS’s perfect start to the season.
Coming into this match, FC RFS was the only team in the league boasting a flawless record with four wins from four games, whereas FK Metta had started the season poorly, suffering two significant losses to FK Liepāja and SK Super Nova, but had bounced back with two consecutive wins in their previous two games.
Metta’s manager, Andris Riherts, made several changes to the starting lineup compared to their previous match against FK Grobiņa. Mohamed Kamara, Emīls Evelons, and Aleksandrs Molotkovs returned to the starting lineup, while 17-year-old Lenards Bērziņš and 18-year-old Rūdolfs Kļavinskis made their first career starts.
For RFS, manager Viktors Morozs made just one change following a big win against FK Liepāja, bringing Jeremie Porsan Clemente back into the starting lineup to replace Cedric Kouadio.
The match began with RFS controlling possession, and their biggest threats came from crosses. Darko Lemajič had two headers saved by the goalkeeper in the first half, and just before halftime, Jeremie Porsan Clemente had a shot from a tight angle that was also saved by Parfjonovs.
At the start of the second half, FK Metta took an unexpected lead. Kristaps Grabovskis dribbled the ball into the penalty box, and it found its way to Kļavinskis, who took one touch and scored with a spinning shot that surprised Fabrice Ondoa, placing the ball into the bottom right corner. This was Kļavinskis’s first ever goal in the Virslīga.
RFS pressed hard to equalize and maintain their unbeaten start to the season. Many attempts were directed toward Darko Lemajič, who had scored game-winning goals in all four of the season’s matches so far, but his efforts were thwarted by goalkeeper Ņikita Parfjonovs, who delivered an outstanding performance to keep the clean sheet. This victory marked Metta’s first win against FC RFS since September 2017.
Following this win, FK Metta climbed to third place in the league with nine points from five matches, while FC RFS remained at the top of the table with 12 points from five games.
Last season RFS defeated FK Metta in all four league encounters, with a goal difference of 19 to 2. The last time Metta managed to beat RFS was in September 2017, when the author of the winning goal was only 10 years of age.
FK Metta will look to extend its winning streak in its next league match against Riga FC, while FC RFS will host FK Tukums 2000.
FK Metta vs FC RFS – 1:0 (0:0)
Goals: Kļavinskis 54′
Yellow Card: Vilnis 58′, Parfjonovs 86′ | Mareš 57′
MET: Parfjonovs – Scremin (Kangars 82′), Vilnis, Minkevics, Kamara, Bērziņš – Molotkovs (Lauan 81′), Grabovskis, Činajevs (Cēsnieks 53′), Kļavinskis (Rēķis 63′) – Evelons (Saleh 63′)
RFS: Ondoa – Savaļnieks, Sliede, Lipusček, Mareš – Panič, Karashima (Zelenkovs 59′) – Talla (Stuglis 59′), Ikaunieks, Clemente (Kouadio 59′) – Lemajic
| # | 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 |