Kauno Žalgiris drop first points as Sūduva hold champions to draw

The league leaders had started the campaign perfectly with five wins from five, but faced a tough test against Sūduva, who came into the match boasting the best defensive record in the league, having conceded just once in their opening five games.

Chances were limited in the first half. Faustas Steponavičius tested goalkeeper Tomas Švedkauskas from a free kick, while Yukiyoshi Karashima fired over the bar after a dangerous delivery from Fabian Ourega. Sūduva came closest before the break when Žygimantas Baltrūnas set up Steponavičius, but his close-range effort was blocked by Rokas Lekiatas.

After the restart, both sides continued to threaten. Leo Ribeiro went close for the hosts, while Baltrūnas again caused problems at the other end, only to be denied by the goalkeeper and a timely defensive clearance.

The breakthrough came just after the hour mark when Nosa Edokpolor won a penalty for Kauno Žalgiris. Amine Benchaib stepped up and calmly converted, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 1-0.

Sūduva pushed for an equaliser late on and were rewarded in similar fashion. A foul in the penalty area gave them their chance, and Steve Lawson made no mistake from the spot to level the score at 1-1.

It marked the first dropped points of the season for Kauno Žalgiris, who still lead the table with 16 points, while Sūduva move to 7 points after a disciplined performance against the champions.

Round 32

19/09

FK Banga

2–0

Džiugas Telšiai

19/09

TransINVEST

3–0

FK Žalgiris

20/09

FC Hegelmann

1–1

FK Sūduva

20/09

FA Šiauliai

0–2

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