Lithuanian coach Andrius Skerla, after a heavy defeat in Vilnius, did not hide his admiration for the Split side, singling out a young midfielder for special praise and vowing to fight until the final whistle in the return leg.
On Thursday evening in Vilnius, Hajduk secured a convincing 5-2 (2-1) victory over Žalgiris in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Conference League, ending a six-year winless streak away from home in European competitions. After the match, home coach Andrius Skerla was full of praise for the visitors.
The main architect of the celebration was Michele Šego, who found the back of the net twice. His first goal came from the penalty spot in the fifth minute, and his second was a free-kick in the 44th minute. Šego had a chance to add another from the spot in the 14th minute, but goalkeeper Šarkauskas saved his effort. In the second half, Adrion Pajaziti (56'), Dalisson de Almeida (73'), and Rokas Pukštas all got on the scoresheet. The exact minute of Pukštas's goal is disputed: 24sata reports the 74th minute, while Index mentions the 75th.
Skerla, at the post-match press conference, avoided making excuses for his team's poor performance, instead offering a realistic assessment of the opponent's quality. "First of all, I want to thank all our fans who came to the stadium today. It was a tough match. Even though we lost, we felt their support. Hajduk is a very strong team. We saw the gap in quality between them and us. They scored some fantastic goals. The result didn't go our way, but we can take some positives from this defeat. Hajduk punished our defensive errors," Skerla said.
The Lithuanian coach knows his team came up against a better side but believes in improvement. "We can play better, but we also need a bit of luck, which you can't always rely on. We played against a much stronger team that was focused from the start and didn't underestimate us," he added.
Skerla singled out one Hajduk player for particular praise. "Pukštas is a very good player. He understands football and knows how to find space. He almost always makes the right decisions with the ball. But it's not just him. Hajduk has a host of players who showed us how football should be played," he said of the Split midfielder.
Despite the heavy defeat, the Žalgiris coach hasn't completely given up on the tie. He is aware that the return leg at Poljud in a week's time is a near-impossible mission, but he promises a fight. "We'll try to surprise them in Split," Skerla said.
For the home side in Vilnius, goals came from Nikola Petković (35') and former Hajduk player Marko Capan (86'), which at least softened the blow of a heavy defeat.
