Defending champions and current Toplyga leaders FK Kauno Žalgiris extended their winless run in the league to five matches on Saturday after suffering a dramatic 1-2 away defeat against FK Sūduva despite equalising deep into stoppage time.
Both teams entered the match struggling for form, each carrying a four-game winless streak in league play. Their first meeting last month had also ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sūduva were boosted by the return of defender Henry Uzochukwu, who had not started a match since the end of April because of injury. Although he appeared late in the match in the previous match against Hegelmann, his return provided an additional option for the hosts. Meanwhile, Kauno Žalgiris, coached by Eivinas Černiauskas, arrived without any major absences.
The visitors started actively and already in the fourth minute forced goalkeeper Ignas Plūkas into an excellent save from a dangerous long-range strike. Kauno Žalgiris controlled possession for large stretches of the first half, but struggled to create clear-cut opportunities against Sūduva’s disciplined and compact defensive structure.
The home side mainly looked dangerous through counterattacks, with forward Faustas Steponavičius getting into several promising positions, although neither side managed to break the deadlock before halftime.
The physical and scrappy nature of the game continued after the break until Sūduva finally found the breakthrough in the 59th minute. After a dangerous delivery from Yuta Omori on the flank, Ibrahima Seck clinically finished into the bottom-right corner to put the hosts ahead 1-0.
Just moments later Sūduva nearly doubled their advantage, but Kauno Žalgiris goalkeeper Tomas Švedkauskas produced important saves to keep his side alive.
It looked as if Sūduva’s resistance would finally be broken in stoppage time when Kauno Žalgiris defender Georgian Anton Tolordava found an equaliser deep into added time to make it 1-1.
However, there was still one final twist. In the very last attack of the match, Omori broke through one-on-one against the goalkeeper and calmly finished to seal a dramatic 2-1 victory for Sūduva, completing a memorable evening in Marijampolė.
The victory lifts Sūduva to fifth place in the Toplyga standings with 22 points, while Kauno Žalgiris remain league leaders but continue to drop valuable points. FK TransINVEST now have the opportunity to close the gap even further later this round and could move within just one point of the defending champions with a victory over Džiugas Telšiai tomorrow.
FK Sūduva vs Kauno Žalgiris – 2-1 (0-0)
Goals: Seck 59′ Omori 90+5′ | Tolordava 90+2′
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kauno Žalgiris |
15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 34 | 12 | 22 | 29 |
| 2 |  Transinvest |
14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 25 |
| 3 |  Džiugas Telšiai |
14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 24 |
| 4 |  FK Banga |
14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 22 |
| 5 |  FK Sūduva |
15 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 22 |
| 6 |  FK Žalgiris |
14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 19 |
| 7 |  FK Panevėžys |
13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 21 | -8 | 15 |
| 8 |  FC Hegelmann |
14 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 21 | -8 | 14 |
| 9 |  FA Šiauliai |
14 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 22 | -11 | 13 |
| 10 |  FK Riteriai |
13 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 34 | -31 | 3 |
