FK Panevėžys and FK Sūduva began their Toplyga campaign with a goalless 0-0 draw. Both head coaches Roland Vrabec and Donatas Vencevičius delivered honest assessments after the final whistle.
Panevėžys head coach Roland Vrabec admitted his side were fortunate to come away with a point.
“I think we took one point very luckily today,” Vrabec said. “Sūduva created a couple of good chances during the game and we were lucky not to concede. At the end we also had our moments and maybe could have scored, but overall I’m not happy with the way we performed.”
The German specialist was particularly critical of his team’s structure and energy levels.
“We were not playing structure-wise like I wanted. We couldn’t find solutions when Sūduva were defending. When we were defending, we gave the opponent too many one-on-one situations on the wings and allowed crosses. This needs to get better.”
Vrabec added that the opening match provided clarity about his team’s current level. “Now we started the season and we know more or less where we are and which topics we have to work on.”
On the other side, Sūduva head coach Donatas Vencevičius took a more positive view of the contest.
“First of all, congratulations to everyone in the football community on the start of the championship,” he said. “It was an interesting and good game from both teams. Of course, it’s a pity there were no goals.”
Vencevičius felt his team had the sharper opportunities and highlighted the opposing goalkeeper’s performance.
“We had some really dangerous situations that we could have turned into goals. Their goalkeeper was named man of the match, and that says a lot.”
While acknowledging there is always room for improvement, the Sūduva coach expressed satisfaction with his team’s overall display. “There are always things to correct, but today it was a good performance from us. I am satisfied, maybe except for the finishing.”
The draw means both teams begin their Toplyga campaign with a point, with clear areas identified for improvement as the season gets underway.
Source: Toplyga/YouTube
