Valmiera FC continued their dominant run in the Latvian Cup, securing another convincing victory — this time a 6:0 triumph over local rivals FK Cēsis at the Valmiera Olympic Centre Stadium.
For the first time this season, team captain Mārcis Ērglis watched from the sidelines, but the decision by head coach Gatis Kalniņš proved spot-on — even without the experienced midfielder, Valmiera handled their opponents with confidence. That said, the match didn’t begin ideally for the home side, who looked sloppy with passes and lacked early rhythm. FK Cēsis, meanwhile, weren’t ready to go down without a fight.
The breakthrough came in the 28th minute, when Niks Savaļnieks found the net with a scissor kick, beating former Valmiera goalkeeper Ričards Plakanis — 1:0. Just before halftime, a pinpoint cross-field pass from Ēriks Maurs-Boks set up Oskars Stupelis in a one-on-one, and he made it 2:0 with a cool finish. The first half ended with another highlight from Savaļnieks, who met a powerful cross from Richmond Owusu with an acrobatic effort to score his second of the night — 3:0.
At halftime, Kalniņš made three substitutions, including bringing on young striker Daniils Cepeļevs (though “young” applies to nearly the entire squad). It took Cepeļevs just over ten minutes to make his mark. In the 58th minute, after a quick throw-in with Savaļnieks, the ball was returned with an elegant backheel, and Cepeļevs buried it in the far corner — 4:0. Five minutes later, he added another — 5:0.
The final blow came from Yusuke Omori, who scored the sixth and sealed the result — 6:0, much to the dismay of the Cēsis supporters in the stands.
The closing moments of the match were marred by an unfortunate incident: Igors Kūlītis was shown a red card after accidentally injuring Emīls Jānis Pētersons with a high boot to the face. Pētersons had to be taken to Vidzeme Hospital with several facial cuts that required stitches. Despite the injury, he maintained a positive attitude about the incident.
Valmiera FC will learn their next Latvian Cup opponent early next week. Until then, the focus shifts back to Altero.lv LIIGA, where they’ll host FK Union/JFK Daugava on May 25 at 14:00 at Jānis Daliņš Stadium.
