A year ago, in the quarter-finals of the Latvian Cup, we lost 0:1 at home against Tukums, this year’s draw brought us together again, but on Sunday evening in Tukums, we did not let history repeat itself and in the round of 16 we managed to defeat our opponents by 3:2.
In the absence of the new captain of the team, Jeremie Porsan-Clemente, the captain’s armband was entrusted to the veteran of the team, Djibril Gueye. And it was he who played the most important role in the team’s success in this game.
First, in the 16th minute of the game, Djibril perfectly passed the ball to Renārs Varslavāns who scored, but six minutes later he made it 2-0 by himself with a great shot. However, the result of the game did not really correspond to what was happening on the pitch, where the home team purposefully threatened the defense bastions of Valmiera, which were cemented by Maksims Toniševs and Andriy Korobenko in this game, but Carlos Olses returned to the goal after a long break.
However, in the first half, Tukums struggled in the execution of attacks, which can also be attributed to the visiting team – Meissa Diop wasted a great moment in a one-on-one match with Jānis Beks.
The second half, as expected, continued with an unrelenting fight from Kristaps Dišler’s men, forcing the Valmiera to defend hard, and in one episode it ultimately resulted in a blunder by Korobenko, literally gifting a goal to Kaspars Anmanis. In the 71st minute, Tukum’s defender Rūdolfs Reingolcs earned a red card for a last-ditch offense against Alioune Ndoye. But that didn’t stop Tukums fighting spirit either – in the 80th minute of the game, Bogdans Samoilovs equalized the result of the game – 2:2.
Valmiera’s offensive arsenal was not at peace with the looming extension, however – in the 85th minute of the game, after a great pass by Lūkass Vapne, Gueye dealt with a couple of defenders in the penalty area and Beks in the goal, sending the ball past everyone listed – 3:2.
In the remaining minutes, the score difference could have been increased, but it did not work out and Valmiera, with a bit of a scare, entered the quarter-finals at the final whistle of the game, in which, after the draw, they will face FC RFS at home.
The next match in the Tonybet futbola Virslīga this weekend is on July 21, at 14:00 at Janis Dalins Stadium against Grobiņas SC/LFS.
