Lithuania sinks Liechtenstein with lightning-fast double at Nations League opener

Aron Sele rattled a shot off the left post before halftime, and that was, perhaps, the fairest summary of the first half: Liechtenstein holding on for dear life, Lithuania piling up chances without reward. But the script flipped as soon as the second half began, and it all ended 0-2 in favor of the visitors at Rheinpark Stadion, in the UEFA Nations League.

The first half had been a one-sided monologue with an open ending. Lithuania set up camp in the opposing half from the start, won corner after corner, and tested Gvidas Gineitis, Pijus Sirvys and Armandas Kucys without the ball going in. Liechtenstein, sitting deep for nearly the entire match, barely showed up, with a high shot from Fabio Luque-Notaro and that post-hitting effort from Sele in the 42nd minute that could have changed the story. With that scare included, both sides went into the break with the score still blank.

The second half, a different story

What didn't fall in 45 minutes fell in seven. In the 52nd minute, after a saved shot from Motiejus Burba, who had just come on at halftime, the rebound fell perfectly: Lukas Michelbrink finished with his left foot from the center of the box, assisted by Kucys, to make it 0-1. Lithuania didn't ease off, and thirteen minutes later, in the 65th, Artur Dolznikov, who had just come on himself, struck a shot from outside the box that flew into the top right corner after a pass from Gineitis. The 0-2 was sealed, and no one touched the scoreline again, even though Lithuania kept creating chances through Adrian Lickunas and Burba himself, while Liechtenstein's only response came from a long-range attempt by Bruno Poitner late in the match.

The numbers back up what was seen on the field. Lithuania was utterly dominant in possession and attacking volume:

The corner count had a typo, here's the corrected table:

With 763 passes to 292 and 16 shots to just 4, Lithuania's territorial superiority was total. The in-house xG estimate for the match confirms it: 1.68 for the visitors compared to just 0.14 for Liechtenstein, a gap that reflects just how one-sided the game was, aside from that scare off the post before the break.

What it means in the standings

The result puts Lithuania atop Group D2 with 3 points after their first match played, while Liechtenstein remains pointless with a -2 goal difference from their opening fixture. The gap between the two in the table is already 3 points. With Azerbaijan yet to debut in the group stage, things are only just getting started, but Lithuania left a clear impression: they dominated possession, multiplied their chances, and when the net wouldn't budge, they found the back of it twice in a quarter of an hour that proved decisive.