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Žalgiris started the match against Northern Irish champion Linfield nervously, but the tension fell from his shoulders in the 38th minute.
When H.Videmontas hit the ball, he broke his wrist in last Friday’s game with Vilnius “Knights”.
Adorned in a black splint and undergoing a manual anesthesia procedure before the game, the Frenchman masterfully directed the ball to the corner of the goal with a right foot free kick, and LInfield goalkeeper Christopher Johns took on only the role of observer.
“It was scary at first”, 15 minutes When asked what was going through his head while playing with a broken wrist, H. Midemont said: “The first 15 minutes seemed to protect me, but over time the trauma was increasingly forgotten.”
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Vilnius “Žalgiris” – Belfast “Linfield”
After the goal, H.Videmontas left for the “Žalgiris” bench, where, after receiving greetings, he sat on the grass next to Ogenyi Onazi. The French and the Nigerian celebrated creatively, as if they were pressing the buttons on the remote controls of the console on the sofa at home.
“It just came to our attention then. I usually play the Champions League too. Play station, and now I competed myself, so we celebrated the goal in this way ”, smiled H. Videmontas at the press conference.
The green and white celebration didn’t end there at LFF Stadium. The referee showed the 11-meter mark just before half-time, and the difference was doubled by Tomislav Kišas, who sent the ball to his right – 2: 0.
At exactly 9 pm LFF Stadium, hosted by the South IV fan booth, drew the National Anthem. In the last words of the Lithuanian anthem, the referee announced the start of the second quarter, but the guests from Northern Ireland quickly silenced the hosts.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Vilnius “Žalgiris” – Belfast “Linfield”
Goalkeeper Edvinas Gertmonas hit the opponent’s first shot, but the previous rebound confused the goalkeeper, and Christy Manziga, who was the first to run for the ball, did not miss the opportunity.
But 55 times the Northern Irish champions landed on the “Žalgiris” square and it became another goal for the Vilnius team. Jakub Sylvestras shot hard after H. Videmont’s corner kick, and goalkeeper Ch.Johns turned unlucky: the ball bounced off the structure and bounced off the goal line.
After the final whistle from the judge, the “Žalgiris” team traditionally marched to the “South IV” fans and threw out the victory songs.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Vilnius “Žalgiris” – Belfast “Linfield”
But the road in Europe is just beginning.
The game against Linfield is already looking forward to next week, and V. Cheburin highlighted it at the post-game press conference.
“We did not start as we wanted, but it is the beginning of the Champions League. There was excitement in the first half, not everything was done. We created the opportunities ourselves, we created several opportunities and rivals. We managed to score in the standard situation, then we realized the penalty, the game came to life. At the beginning of the second half we missed the goal out of nowhere, after the rebound, the goalkeeper’s zone was not saved. While waiting for the second game in a week, we will analyze what went wrong, what failed. We will prepare for the second leg in all seriousness, “said V. Cheburin.
The Kazakh specialist believes his students were hit the hardest by the excitement, which also led to loose balls, unprotected areas and untapped opportunities.
“I want to congratulate all Lithuanians on the holidays. We wanted to give the viewers the highest level of football, but maybe we burned that desire, ”thought V. Cheburin.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Vladimir Cheburin
The coach praised H.Videmontas, said his game was assured, and the French, leader in the field.
V.Čeburinas recalled both yesterday’s press conference and the team’s general motto, putting his hands on H. Videmont’s splint.
“Yesterday I said that this is a man who does not allow injuries to prevent him, wants to play, runs to the field with all his might. Yesterday it was our nice gesture to survive the difficulties of others as a team, to support each other. Perhaps his trauma is not the most serious, it did not prevent him from playing. Hugo played very well and perhaps even better than we expected ”, praised V. Cheburin to the Frenchman.
Linfield’s coach David Healy made comments to the referees after the game and hoped a team of better referees would work next week, but the Žalgiris strategist traditionally refrained from commenting on the whistles on the field.
Žalgiris will play the playoffs in Belfast on July 13.
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