First half goals from strike partners Matthew Fitzpatrick and Kieran Offord ensured Linfield overcame Lithuanian side Zalgiris Vilnius with a 2-0 aggregate victory at Windsor Park last night.
Cheered on by more than four thousand supporters, it was a deserved victory for the Blues who put in a strong collective performance, and their reward is progression to Q3 of the UEFA Conference League, in which they’ll face Vikingur, the champions of the Faroe Islands.
Last night, the Lithuanian champions made one change to their team from last week’s stalemate draw in Vilnius as Vasilije Radenovic replaced Dino Salcinovic in the starting eleven.
Linfield, meanwhile, were without Euan East who pulled up shortly before half-time in the first leg. Ben Hall returned from suspension to take his place in the Blues’ only change. Callumn Morrison dropped out of the squad after requiring a stretcher for an injury picked up in Mark Haughe’s testimonial match on Saturday, as he joins Dane McCullough, Alex Gorrin, Cameron Ballantyne and Robbie McDaid on the injury list.
Attacking the Kop end in the first half, the Blues got off to a dream start, taking the lead after just six minutes. A deep free-kick from the left was delivered by Kirk Millar – the goalkeeper came and tried to push it away but didn’t get much purchase on the clearance, allowing Ethan McGee to retrieve it at the back post area. McGee cushioned it down to Kieran Offord who hooked the ball across the box for strike partner Matthew Fitzpatrick to stoop and head the ball into the bottom corner.
Although Linfield did well to limit the visitors’ attack and Chris Johns didn’t have a save to make, he was beaten on one occasion, in the 15th minute when a corner delivered by Bruno Tavares – the cousin of former Arsenal and current Lazio left-back Nuno Tavares – was met by defender Vasilije Radenovic who got great purchase on his header, only for the alert Matthew Orr to make a goalline clearance.
The Blues then had a big opportunity to double their lead in the 21st minute when they were awarded a penalty. Kieran Offord chased what looked a lost cause and managed to pinch the ball from defender Mohamed Youla who was attempting to shield the ball over the line for a goal-kick. In a tizzy, the defender then stuck a leg out and felled Offord who was on the march with a view to reaching a more central shooting position. The Latvian referee Edgars Majcevs showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot, however Chris Shields’ penalty was well saved by Venezuelan goalkeeper Carlos Olses. Ethan McGee followed in but he fired over the crossbar with a rebound effort.
Any attacks from the visitors seemed to stem down the right side of the pitch in the opening half-hour, and this prompted a switch of wing-backs as Ethan McGee came over to the Blues’ left side and the visitors got zero change out of the man from Benburb.
Undeterred from their earlier penalty miss, Linfield doubled their lead on 33 minutes to put them firmly in the driving seat of the tie. Chris Shields picked up a loose ball 35 yards from goal and gave it to Kieran Offord to his left. The Scotsman had a good option from the run of Fitzpatrick to his left, and he used the run as a decoy to go alone, shifting the ball past Yuri Kendysh before unleashing a low, arrowed shot into the bottom left corner from 25 yards.
The Blues were almost out of sight on the cusp of half-time as a quick break saw Josh Archer release the excellent Kieran Offord down the right before the striker’s low shot drew a fantastic save from the goalkeeper down low to his right. The Lithuanian side then survived the resultant corner before the referee blew for half-time.
HT: LINFIELD 2-0 ZALGIRIS VILNIUS
The second half was a quieter affair in terms of chances. Zalgiris Vilnius targeted a fast start to the second half, knowing that a goal would have them right back in the tie, and their best chance came five minutes after the break when a pass clipped over the top of the Linfield defence fed the well-timed run of Liviu Antal, but he fired wide on the stretch. The Romanian forward has been prolific for the Lithuanian champions with 93 goals in 170 appearances, but last night was a frustrating night for him and he was withdrawn soon after as his frustration led to a booking.
Up the other end, with Linfield attacking the Railway end in the second half, Matthew Fitzpatrick had a good effort when he met Kirk Millar’s deep free-kick with a looping header. Fitzpatrick had a lot to do given how far out he was, but the goalkeeper had to backpaddle before making a good save.
After a stellar showing mopping everything up and making several tackles at the heart of midfield, young Linfield midfielder Josh Archer had to be withdrawn after picking up a knock in the 62nd minute. Subsequently, Kyle McClean got another half-hour under his belt.
The excellent Kieran Offord ran his socks off and his tank emptied, leading to him being replaced by Chris McKee on 71 minutes, and the man from Carrickfergus almost scored within three minutes when he had a free header at close range from Kyle McClean’s cross from the left, but the goalkeeper was equal to it.
Kirk Millar also went close as his corner took a slight deflection off an opponent which saw it squirm agonisingly wide of the far post.
Once again, the Blues threatened inside the final ten minutes as Matthew Fitzpatrick rose well to meet Kirk Millar’s cross from the right, but again, the Venezuelan goalkeeper made a brilliant save. On another night the Blues would have scored four or five.
Although the visitors had a good bit of the ball in the closing stages, they were unable to break the resolute Linfield team down. The only real scare the Blues had late on was when Ben Hall’s attempted clearance was blocked, and only for Machop Chol losing his footing, the forward would have been through on goal.
Summer signing Sean Brown came on as a substitute in injury time for his Linfield debut, having been an unused substitute against Shelbourne in both legs.
A good result for the Blues and a win which boosts club finances. David Healy and his men will hope for more of the same against Vikingur. The Blues travel to Torshavn next Thursday 7 August for the first leg, in which legendary skipper Jamie Mulgrew could make his 800th Linfield appearance. Subsequently, the Blues’ Sports Direct Premiership opener against Dungannon Swifts at Windsor Park has been put back 24 hours to 15:00 on Sunday 10 August.
FT: LINFIELD 2-0 ZALGIRIS VILNIUS
LINFIELD: Chris Johns (GK), Matthew Orr, Ben Hall, Sam Roscoe, Ethan McGee, Josh Archer (Kyle McClean 62’), Jamie Mulgrew ©, Chris Shields, Kirk Millar (Sean Brown 90+2’), Kieran Offord (Chris McKee 71’), Matthew Fitzpatrick
Subs: David Walsh (GK), Scot Whiteside, Ryan McKay, Jon Graham, Charlie Allen, Rhys Annett
ZALGIRIS VILNIUS: Carlos Olses (GK), Mohamed Youla (Nemanja Mihajlovic 77’), Vasilije Radenovic, Luka Dumancic, Bruno Tavares, Giedrius Matulevicius, Yuri Kendysh (Dino Salcinovic 89’), Ovidijus Verbickas ©, Machop Chol, Joris Moutachy, Liviu Antal (Kassim Hadji 57’)
Subs: Arpad Tordai (GK), Nelson Abiam, Dino Salcinovic, Gustas Jarusevicius, Martynas Setkus, Ebenezer Ofori, Kajus Bicka, Kevin Lukasevic, Patrik Matyzonok
Referee: Edgars Majcevs (Latvia)