Hegelmann miss late great chance and have to settle with a point against Šiauliai
FC Hegelmann and FA Šiauliai played out their second 1-1 draw of the Lithuanian Toplyga season, with both sides forced to settle for a point after an evenly contested match in difficult rainy conditions.
Photo: FC Hegelmann The visitors opened the scoring in the 10th minute after a lengthy VAR review spotted a handball inside the Hegelmann penalty area following a corner kick. Portuguese midfielder Rui Batalha confidently converted the penalty, scoring his second goal of the season to put Šiauliai ahead.
Hegelmann responded relatively quickly despite the heavy conditions. Following a set-piece situation, former Cameroon international Samuel Oum Gouet reacted quickest inside the box to score his first league goal for the club in his 12th appearance of the season and restore parity.
The hosts nearly completed the turnaround before halftime when Abdel Kader Njoya tested goalkeeper Paulius Linkevičius from a tight angle, but the young Šiauliai shot-stopper reacted well to deny the Cameroonian attacker.
Šiauliai then produced their best open-play chance early in the second half. Nigerian forward Chidera Nwoga created space for himself inside the penalty area after beating a defender, but Rokas Bagdonavičius made an impressive save to keep the scores level.
Both sides continued to trade dangerous attacks throughout the second half, though finishing proved to be the biggest issue on the evening.
The best chance to win the match came deep into stoppage time for Hegelmann. Samuel Oum Gouet’s long-range strike was blocked straight into the path of top scorer Abdel Njoya, but from an excellent position the forward was denied by a brilliant save from 19-year-old goalkeeper Linkevičius, preserving a valuable point for Šiauliai.
The draw leaves the two clubs next to each other in the standings, with Hegelmann sitting eighth on 13 points and Šiauliai one point behind in ninth place.
Hegelmann return to action next Saturday at home against Sūduva, while Šiauliai face a difficult away trip against league leaders FK Kauno Žalgiris.
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kauno Žalgiris |
28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 56 | 20 | 36 | 51 |
| 2 |  FK Sūduva |
29 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 39 | 29 | 10 | 50 |
| 3 |  FK Žalgiris |
29 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 45 | 34 | 11 | 47 |
| 4 |  Transinvest |
28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 43 | 35 | 8 | 45 |
| 5 |  FK Banga |
28 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 32 | 28 | 4 | 41 |
| 6 |  Džiugas Telšiai |
28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 36 | 40 | -4 | 38 |
| 7 |  FK Panevėžys |
28 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 29 | 43 | -14 | 32 |
| 8 |  FC Hegelmann |
29 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 31 | 48 | -17 | 26 |
| 9 |  FA Šiauliai |
29 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 58 | -34 | 17 |
