When life does not seem fair: Virslīga Matchday 10 Review

Matchday 10 of the Latvian top tier did not bring many surprises but it did come with a sense of frustration for at least two of the clubs that fought hard but were left without any points.

The headline match of Virslīga Matchday 10 was, without a doubt, game between RFS and Auda, which ended 1-0 following a 39th minute goal by Darko Lemajić. Despite Auda fighting their hearts out and approaching the match with a solid game-plan, lack of shots on target and a couple of wasted opportunities meant that the green-black’s had to give way to their sister club, Riga FC, and drop down to third. RFS, on the other hand, delivered another of those less-than-memorable appearances as the team is still struggling to adjust to the loss of their star players of previous years – Emerson and Adam Markhiev. 32-year-old Stefan Panić ended up having to work for two during this game with his partner in midfield – Haruna Njie – still taking on form after a long injury after the Europa league. Still, the defending Champions earned an important 3 points and maintained some distance from their primary rivals, Riga FC.

The Riga ‘Lions’, for their part, made easy work of struggling Super Nova, who continue to alternate between heroic draws and narrow losses, having only won once this season; back on 12th of March against Metta. On paper, Riga FC‘s 5-1 win is hardly surprising, but Super Nova were anything but a dud during this match, really challenging the wealthiest club in the Baltics on more than a single occasion. Dreadful defensive errors and poor finishing were what caused the disastrous result, but Super Nova will certainly feel wronged by football gods this time around as they more than stepped up to the challenge and hardly deserved to lose, let alone by such a margin.

Tukums are another side that will feel an acute sense of disappointment during this round. Already scraping by near the bottom of the table, they were presented with a real opportunity against Daugavpils as the Latgale team were reduced to 10 men 16 minutes into the match. Despite having more possession, better passing, taking more shots on goal and many more shots on target, Tukums were unable to break Daugavpils down and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.

One club that will not feel disappointment after this matchday are Jelgava. Having been on an upward trajectory throughout the first lap, Jelgava started their second lap with a narrow win over last place Grobiņa. Already with a reputation for stubborn defending and dangerous counter-attacks, Jelgava are gaining confidence and should have, in all fairness, made better use of their 21 shots on goal and 9 shots on target during this game, especially as Grobiņa went a man down in the 53rd minute. Jelgava did score shortly thereafter, but that goal was disallowed due to offside.

While Grobiņa proved to be polite visitors and did not trouble Jelgava too much, their local rivals – Liepāja – can hardly say the same of themselves. Playing away at Metta on Metta’s 19th Birthday, Jānis Goba and his men bagged three and saw the Metta head coach sent off before the home side had a chance to respond. Having gone down 0-2 in the first half and then 0-3 15 minutes into the second half, Metta finally found it within themselves to capitalise on declining Liepāja and get one goal back in the 75th minute. The two teams then exchanged penalties in the 88th and 92nd minutes, finishing Metta’s birthday game 2-4.

After a turbulent start to the season, the dynamic has been levelling off somewhat and last season’s Top 3 are back in their familiar positions – RFS are leading the pack with Riga and Auda not far behind. Daugavpils are still holding on to the 4th place but they are under pressure from Jelgava and Liepāja. Metta are top of the bottom, leading Super Nova by 4 points and Grobiņa, who are in the last place, by 6.

All matchday 10 results:

• FS Jelgava 1-0 FK Grobiņa
• FK Tukums 2000 0-0 BFC Daugavpils
• SK Super Nova 1-5 Riga FC
• FC RFS 1-0 FK Auda
• FK Metta 2-4 FK Liepāja

Matchday 11 kick’s off in two days, on the 4th of May as Grobiņa will host Daugavpils at 16:00 local time.