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Jūrmalas valstspilsētas stadions “Sloka” (Jūrmala, Latvia). The exciting and tough relegation zone battle between FK Metta and FK Grobiņa (as the opening game from Matchday 31) ended by the away team’s win, by the final score of 0-1.

As the 9th and 10th placed team in the Latvian Highest League (called Virslīga) clashed, with FK Metta only one point ahead of FK Grobiņa (whose relegation play-off 2nd leg match from last year you can read here), the pre-match predictions clearly indicated a tough and narrow game. FK Metta has collected four points in its last five Virslīga matches, in the opposition of FK Grobiņa’s three points – also based on the last five league games.

FK Metta, led by its coach Andris Riherts, started the match in 5-4-1 formation. Their wide midfielders, young (Latvian U21 international player) Markuss Ivulāns (as right midfielder) and Kristofers Rēķis (who started as left midfielder, but was also visible on the right flank and as “Number 10”) definitely elevated the offensive play by their creativity and liveliness. Despite of some minor difficulties in the defensive zone, under opposition pressure, the defense has solved the complicated situations more or less well. In the second half, left centre-back Ivo Minkevičs came up as the leader of the defense, and it was delighting to see that all five of the substitution players who went onto the pitch, gave some boost for the team.

FK Grobiņa, under the guidance of the assistant manager Oskars Kļava, opted for a 3-4-1-2 formation, in which Oļģerds Raščevskis played as attacking midfielder; he and his Senegalese team mate Pape Doudou (who was left midfielder) were able to speed up the play and also to increase the tempo to a higher level. In the first half, the focus was on a ball possession based game, which was operated by safe short passes. The offensive minded players / offensive line often practiced elevated pressing on the opposition defenders and also on the goalkeeper Alvis Sorokins. The team has demonstrated tenacity in the physical challenges, and they proved to be a worthy opponent in the aerial situations. Of the two strikers, Ukrainian Mykola Agapov was in a more mobile role. Extremely tall goalkeeper of the team, Frenks Orols (~204 cm, currently on loan from FK RFS) can be mentioned as hero of the match, for saving a penalty in the middle of the first half.

In the game’s 34th minute, FK Metta had big opportunity to take the lead by penalty kick, but it was saved by the opposition team’s goalkeeper Frenks Orols (as you can see below). Five minutes later (39th minute) FK Grobiņa‘s striker Mykola Agapov scored a goal by tap-in (which was assisted by a great right-footed cross of Maksims Sidorovs), setting the final result of the match (0-1).

(FK Grobiņa goalkeeper Frenks Orols, saves the penalty of Markuss Ivulāns)

With this final result, the two teams swapped places in the league table, so FK Grobiņa can wait for the next round from a more advantageous position.

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