The last trip to Liepāja this season for Gatis Kalniņš’s team ended with a convincing 4-1 victory at Daugava Stadium under the night sky, defeating Viktors Dobrecovs’ Grobiņa SC/LFS.
The start of the match, however, gave no indication of the final outcome. The home side took advantage of the visitors’ lack of focus and scored as early as the 2nd minute, with Zakaria Sdaigui getting on the scoresheet. The game continued to suggest that it wouldn’t be an easy night for Valmiera. Grobiņa played fast, dominant, and fearless football, with their opponents struggling to match their intensity for some time.
The tide turned in the 32nd minute when Jérémie Porsan-Clemente led an attack and was fouled in Grobiņa’s penalty area. The captain took the resulting penalty himself and successfully converted it moments later.
But the first half wasn’t over yet – a minute before the break, Lūkass Vapne delivered an excellent corner kick, finding the head of the team’s top scorer, Alioune Ndoye, who powered it into the net to score his 18th goal of the Virslīga season.
The second half didn’t change the course of the game much, though the home side started more aggressively. That aggression came at a cost, with captain Andris Krušatins receiving two yellow cards in just seven minutes, leaving Grobiņa down to 10 men.
Despite this, their fighting spirit didn’t wane, and Valmiera still had to work hard, both in defense and attack, to secure a goal. One chance came when Ndoye found the net again, but after a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 72nd minute, however, there was no need for VAR as another Valmiera player, Meissa Diop, was brought down in Grobiņa’s penalty area. Porsan-Clemente stepped up again and calmly converted his second penalty of the match, making it a comfortable 3-1.
The show was capped off by a brilliant run from Kristers Penkevics down the right flank. He cut into the box and set up Ndoye, who made no mistake and fired in the fourth goal past Artem Malish.
After the international break, Valmiera will face a real test of their strength and ability on October 20th at 2:00 PM, when they take on Tamaz Pertia’s FK Liepāja at Jānis Daliņš Stadium.