Riga FC held scoreless by inspired Daugavpils in rare goalless draw

Tonybet Virslīga leaders Riga FC failed to score against BFC Daugavpils for only the second time in the clubs’ history as the hosts produced an outstanding defensive display to earn a 0-0 draw and shut down the league’s most prolific attack.

Riga started brightly and created the first dangerous opportunities of the evening. The league’s leading scorer Muhammed Badamosi found himself in a promising position, but his effort was blocked. Moments later the ball fell to Raivis Andris Jurkovskis, whose strike from just outside the penalty area drifted narrowly past the post.

Badamosi continued to threaten, but Daugavpils soon showed they had arrived with ambitions of their own. Joel Yakubu burst into the penalty area on a rapid counter-attack and forced Frenks Dāvids Orols into a difficult save. The hosts maintained the pressure with three attempts in quick succession. Two efforts from Yakubu were blocked by Riga defenders before Rostand Ndjiki’s diving header from a cross was comfortably gathered by Orols.

Riga appeared rattled as Daugavpils continued to dominate large spells of the opening half. After winning possession in midfield, the hosts launched another swift counter-attack, with Ndjiki driving forward before unleashing a powerful effort that flew straight at Orols, who safely collected.

It was one of Daugavpils’ finest first-half performances of the season, particularly considering the quality of the opposition, and Riga head coach Adrian Guľa was forced to search for solutions during the interval. His side responded with a much stronger start to the second half.

Badamosi was again at the heart of Riga’s attacking play, racing down the left before forcing Jānis Beks into another save despite pressure from a defender. The Daugavpils goalkeeper was called into action again shortly afterwards when Meïssa Diop tested him with a powerful effort from a tight angle.

The hosts continued to threaten on the counter. Abdel Kader Traoré forced Orols into another routine save before Riga came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 76th minute. Orlando Galo found himself unmarked inside the six-yard box and beat Beks with his close-range effort, but Dutch defender Ziad Ouled was perfectly positioned on the goal line to clear the ball before it crossed into the net.

Riga did have the ball in the net later in the match, but the goal was correctly ruled out after Badamosi had received the ball from an obvious offside position.

The visitors launched one final push during stoppage time and, unsurprisingly, Badamosi was again involved. Meeting a deep cross with a glancing header, the Gambian forward directed the ball towards the far corner, but Beks produced an excellent save to preserve Daugavpils’ clean sheet.

The final whistle confirmed the points would be shared. It marked only the second time Riga FC have failed to score against Daugavpils, and the first since April 2022, when the two sides also played out a goalless draw in Daugavpils. On that occasion, Riga were managed by Torsten Fink.

BFC Daugavpils vs Riga FC – 0-0 (0-0)

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	RFS	33	26	5	2	81	24	57	83
2	Riga FC	33	24	7	2	90	31	59	79
3	FK Auda	33	19	7	7	53	34	19	64
4	FK Liepāja	33	13	7	13	46	46	0	46
5	BFC Daugavpils	33	12	9	12	39	37	2	45
6	Super Nova	33	11	5	17	32	47	-15	38
7	FS Jelgava	33	8	8	17	34	56	-22	32
8	Grobiņa	33	6	11	16	25	56	-31	29
9	FK Tukums 2000	33	5	9	19	44	65	-21	24
10	Ogre United	33	4	6	23	33	81	-48	18