FK Grobiņa claimed just their second home victory of the Tonybet Virslīga season, defeating FK Tukums 2000 3-1 as three different players all scored their first league goals of the campaign.
The two sides entered the final match of the 22nd round level on points near the foot of the table, with both previous meetings this season ending in draws. Victory therefore carried extra significance in the battle to move clear of the relegation places.
Grobiņa made the brighter start and nearly took the lead after 15 minutes when Devids Dobrecovs tested Ivan Baturins with a powerful long-range effort. Three minutes later, however, the visitors’ goalkeeper was beaten.
Following a corner, Dobrecovs strike from outside the penalty area took a fortunate deflection and fell perfectly for Ukrainian midfielder Jose Ribeiro, who was left unmarked in front of goal and calmly converted to score his first goal of the season.
Tukums responded well and came close to equalising on several occasions, but Roberts Ozols proved unbeatable. The goalkeeper first comfortably dealt with Kaspars Anmanis’ long-range attempt before producing impressive saves to deny Bogdans Samoilovs and former Grobiņa player Rūdolfs Meļķis.
Those missed opportunities proved costly. In the 38th minute, Grobiņa doubled their advantage through an excellent counterattack. Brazilian striker Dodo won an aerial duel from a long ball forward, flicking the ball into the path of Maksims Sidorovs, who raced clear before finishing confidently past Baturins for his first goal of the league season.
Tukums head coach Kristaps Dišlers responded at half-time by introducing 19-year-old striker Daniels Radzenieks, who recently returned from Ukrainian club Polissya’s system and winger Niks Dusalijevs, who last season was a key played for Tukums scoring five goals and assisting 10 times, but this offseason signed with RFS where he made seven appearances and now returns to Tukums on loan.
The changes did little to alter the momentum. Sidorovs soon forced another save from Baturins with a long-range effort before Milan Corryn almost found the top corner with an outside-of-the-foot strike that the Tukums goalkeeper brilliantly tipped away.
The pressure eventually produced a third goal in the 60th minute. After a long throw created confusion inside the penalty area, Sidorovs headed the ball across goal to Dobrecovs. Baturins made an outstanding point-blank save from the first header, but with no defender reacting to the rebound, Dobrecovs nodded home at the second attempt to score his first goal of the season and make it 3-0.
Tukums continued searching for a way back into the contest. Debutant Radzenieks almost marked his Virslīga debut with a goal, only for Ozols to make another excellent save.
The visitors eventually found a consolation in the 79th minute when Grobiņa failed to clear their lines, allowing Samoilovs to curl an excellent finish into the corner from outside the penalty area.
That proved to be the final goal of the evening as Grobiņa comfortably held on for all three points.
The victory ends Grobiņa’s three-match winless run and lifts them into eighth place in the standings, three points clear of ninth-placed Tukums, who have now suffered four consecutive league defeats.
FK Grobiņa vs FK Tukums 2000 – 3-1 (2-0)
Goals: Ribeiro 18′, Sidorovs 38′, Dobrecovs 60′ | Samoilovs 79′
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  RFS |
22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 54 | 16 | 38 | 56 |
| 2 |  Riga FC |
22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 65 | 19 | 46 | 55 |
| 3 |  FK Auda |
22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 37 | 26 | 11 | 40 |
| 4 |  FK Liepāja |
22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 34 | -6 | 28 |
| 5 |  BFC Daugavpils |
22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 25 | 29 | -4 | 27 |
| 6 |  FS Jelgava |
22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 24 | 38 | -14 | 25 |
| 7 |  Super Nova |
21 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 33 | -11 | 24 |
| 8 |  Grobiņa |
22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 33 | -18 | 20 |
| 9 |  FK Tukums 2000 |
22 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 37 | 44 | -7 | 17 |
| 10 |  Ogre United |
21 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 54 | -35 | 10 |
