Žalgiris Vilnius’ European campaign came to an emphatic end on Thursday evening as the Lithuanian side collapsed after the break in Split, suffering a 0-4 defeat to Hajduk Split and exiting the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round 2-9 on aggregate.
Head coach Andrius Škerla welcomed back goalkeeper Carlos Olses, making his first appearance since the end of May. And the Venezuelan was immediately called into action at the start of the game. When Hajduk captain Marko Livaja missed a clear early opportunity before Olses produced another important save moments later to keep the match level.
Žalgiris also threatened in the opening stages, with Bryan Teixeira seeing a well-worked free-kick routine blocked inside the penalty area, but despite Hajduk enjoying the majority of possession and chances, the Lithuanian side held firm to reach half-time with the score still 0-0. The visitors even had a couple of promising situations late in the first half, although they were unable to seriously test the Croatian goalkeeper.
The resistance finally ended nine minutes into the second half. A superb through ball released Dario Melnjak, who calmly finished to give Hajduk the lead and effectively end any remaining hopes of a comeback.
Although Olses continued to keep the score respectable with several impressive saves and central defender Danny Lupano produced a number of crucial interventions, Hajduk’s pressure eventually became overwhelming. Adam Guram doubled the lead in the 69th minute before the Croatian side struck twice more in the space of three minutes, taking advantage of defensive mistakes to complete a comprehensive 4-0 victory.
The statistics reflected Hajduk’s dominance, with the hosts finishing the match with 17 shots to Žalgiris’ three, while the Lithuanian club failed to register a single effort on target.
The defeat sees Žalgiris bow out of Europe with a 2-9 aggregate loss, bringing Lithuania’s representatives down to one club remaining in UEFA competition this season with Kauno Žalgiris competing in the UEFA Europa League play-off qualification round where they will play against Besiktas.
Hajduk Split vs Žalgiris Vilnius – 4-0 (0-0) 9-2 on aggregate
Goals: Melnjak 53′, Guram 69′, Koy Lupano 80′ (Own goal), Sego 82′
