In the opening game of Optibet Futbola Virsliga season, Valmiera FC lost to Riga FC with a score of 1:2.
The game was off to a surprisingly quick start. One minute into the match Alvis Jaunzems was precise after a quick offensive strike. Three minutes later a reason to cheer was given to Riga FC fans as an 11-meter penalty was awarded to Riga FC which they capitalized upon. For rest of the half active game was played for both sides giving goalies plenty of work. Our Rihards Matrevics was superb which led to a 1:1 tie after the first forty-five.
Early on in the second half, both sides made substitutions – for our team, Djibril Gueye stepped on the pitch to replace Daisuke Yokota. From the very first minutes of the game, Riga played a very active game pressing hard which didn’t allow our players to breathe. Up until the 86th minute, our defensive lines and defense worked well negating all the attacks but an unfortunate ricochet gave the go-ahead goal to the opponent. In the remaining minutes, the game couldn’t be saved handing us a loss in the season opener with a score of 1:2.
