Defending Baltic League champions Gintra earned their second win. Dominating in Riga, they 2:0 (2–0 at half-time) defeated local side Metta.
The Lithuanian champions beat Latvian champions Riga SFK 1–0 in Šiauliai in the opening round.
Lineup: A. Bikutė (46′ min. A. Schroeder), T. Romanovskaja, A. Mikutaitė, A. Sunday, L. Kubiliūtė, G. Raznauskaitė (63' min. N. Klezaitė), E. Šupelytė, M. Galkina, J. Bassey, J. Sunday (85' min. S. Railaitė), M. Proscevičiūtė (80' min. S. Lichareva).
Goals:
„Gintra“: J. Sunday (27'), T. Romanovskaja (43') one each.
Gintra pressed high immediately and took control. Juliet Sunday's first threat was blocked. A few minutes later, Šupelytė nearly scored a free kick from around 20 metres, striking the post. Gintra could not reach the rebound, temporarily sparing the hosts.
Midway through the half, Sunday scored her second Baltic League goal and the match's opener with a low finish inside the area for 1–0. Gintra kept dominating possession and chances. Near half-time, Romanovskaja was perfectly placed to convert a cross and double the lead.
New signing Adrianna Schroeder replaced Aušrinė Bikutė at half-time. The pattern remained unchanged: Gintra controlled proceedings while Metta awaited errors and counterattacking opportunities.
Galkina nearly scored a third, but her deceptive shot found no gap. Sunday then hit the post from near the penalty area. After just over half an hour, Metta had their clearest chance to reduce the deficit: a corner caused a scramble near Schroeder's goal, but the ball did not cross the line.
In the 78th minute, Proscevičiūtė beat a defender and struck the woodwork again. No further goals followed, and Gintra celebrated a convincing win.
Next weekend brings the Women's A League opener against runners-up MFA Žalgiris-MRU at Gytariai's artificial-turf stadium on Sunday, 26 March, at 16:00. Come and support Gintra!
Goals and key chances:
Coach K. Petkov's comments:
V. Kuralavičiaus/ LFF.lt nuotr.