National stadium
Spectators: 10301 (Terracing: 7726,
Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Astijus Dargvainis got the match started through his kick off. After 3 minutes, Astijus Dargvainis made it 1-0 with a short kick to the right side. Macedonia's Dranuš Paskalov tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 10th minute Bekim Ribarski shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Vilmantas Zuoza saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Vilmantas Zuoza made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Bekim Ribarski in the 11th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Bekim Ribarski in the 12th minute of play forced Lithuania's goalkeeper Vilmantas Zuoza to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 17 minutes into the game, Bekim Ribarski cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-1. Vilmantas Zuoza was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 25th minute the ball was on its way in behind Lithuania's goalkeeper Vilmantas Zuoza, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Vilmantas Zuoza made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Bekim Ribarski in the 27th minute of play. Liudas Babinskas took the ball and in the 29 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Dranuš Paskalov. Dranuš Paskalov dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-1. Bekim Ribarski blasted a shot towards the goal in the 36th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Vilmantas Zuoza having to make a save. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Astijus Dargvainis in the 39th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Dranuš Paskalov prevented the ball from getting in the gole. 45 minutes into the match, Lithuania's goal looked a bit too open when Bekim Ribarski came free, but Vilmantas Zuoza reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When the referee blew for the end of the half the home team players were clearly happier, as they went in to the break leading 2-1.
Macedonia made a substitution. Sande Spasovski replaced Bekim Ribarski. The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Sande Spasovski stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. If Petar Antič had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 53rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 57 minutes Macedonia's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Aistis Steponaitis who took care of the corner kick. Aistis Steponaitis made a great header on Lithuania's corner, it was just that Macedonia's Dranuš Paskalov managed to reach the ball for a save. In the 59th match minute, Macedonia was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Dime Ivkovič to maneuver through the defense. Macedonia made a substitution. Slobodan Bogdanovski replaced Simon Lefkovski. In the 62nd minute, Macedonia's Petar Antič dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 2-2. Vilmantas Zuoza showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Sande Spasovski in the 65th minute of the match. 67 minutes into the match, Macedonia's Sande Spasovski sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Vilmantas Zuoza narrowly saved just below the crossbar. 68 minutes into the match, Vidmantas Minkevičius had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Dranuš Paskalov. Macedonia's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Vidmantas Minkevičius was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 3-2. In the 71stth minute of the game Astijus Dargvainis who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Macedonia's Dranuš Paskalov was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 73rd match minute, Lithuania was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Liudvikas Bajoriūnas to maneuver through the defense. Dranuš Paskalov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Astijus Dargvainis in the 77th minute of the match. Vilmantas Zuoza made a fantastic save in the 79th minute, when Sande Spasovski sent off a good shot on target. If Astijus Dargvainis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 81st minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Astijus Dargvainis in the 83rd minute of play forced Macedonia's goalkeeper Dranuš Paskalov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Vilmantas Zuoza showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sande Spasovski, who was totally free with the ball in the 84th minute. With his leg Vilmantas Zuoza managed to avoid a goal in the 88thth minute, when Macedonia's Sande Spasovski fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Petar Antič received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 91st minute. Vilmantas Zuoza tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Lithuania's Vilmantas Zuoza proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 95th minute of the match, managed to save Lithuania from getting a goal against them. Vilmantas Zuoza was out of position in the 96 minute of play, and Sande Spasovski capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Sande Spasovski really showed his touch with that goal: 3-3.
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