The 2022 A Lyga, for sponsorship reasons also called Optibet A lyga[1] was the 33rd season of the A Lyga, the top-tier football league of Lithuania. The season began on 4 March and concluded on 23 November 2022.[2]

A Lyga
Season2022
Dates4 March – 23 November 2022
Matches played180
Goals scored386 (2.14 per match)
Top goalscorerRenan Oliveira
(13 goals)
Biggest home winŽalgiris 6–0 Jonava
(4 March 2022)
Hegelmann 6–0 Jonava
(16 July 2022)
Biggest away winJonava 0–5 Žalgiris
(27 April 2022)
Jonava 0–5 Panevėžys
(22 June 2022)
Sūduva 0–5 Žalgiris
(26 June 2022)
Jonava 0–5 Banga
(7 September 2022)
Highest scoringDžiugas 3–5 Žalgiris
(13 April 2022)
Longest winning run8 matches
Žalgiris
(19 June - 28 August 2022)
Longest unbeaten run13 matches
Žalgiris
(4 March - 14 May)
Longest winless run28 matches
Jonava
(4 March - 12 September 2022)
Longest losing run12 matches
Jonava
(4 March - 3 May 2022)
Highest attendance1237
Sūduva 4–1 Panevėžys
(7 August 2022)
Lowest attendance45
Kauno Žalgiris 5–1 Džiugas
(7 September 2022)
Total attendance66,834
Average attendance371
2021
2023
All statistics correct as of 12 September 2022.

Teams edit

FK Žalgiris started the season as defending champions. DFK Dainava and FK Nevėžis were relegated, and replaced with FA Šiauliai and FK Jonava. All teams that were eligible to participate in A lyga based on sporting principle have successfully passed the licensing process for the first time in recent years.[3][4][5]

Home towns of the 2022 A Lyga teams
2022 A Lyga competitors
Club Location Stadium Surface Capacity Seasons
in A Lyga
2021 position
FK Banga Gargždai Gargždai Stadium Artificial 2,323 9 7th
FC Džiugas Telšiai Telšiai Central Stadium Natural 2,400 2 8th
Ateitis Progymnasium Stadium
FC Hegelmann Kaunas LFF Kaunas training center stadium Artificial 500 2 5th
FK Jonava Jonava Central Stadium of Jonava Natural 2,000 3 2nd in I lyga
Artificial Stadium of Jonava Artificial 500
FK Kauno Žalgiris Kaunas Kauno Žalgiris FA Stadium Natural 500 8 3rd
NFA Stadium Artificial 500
FK Panevėžys Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium Natural 6,600 4 4th
Žemyna Progymnasium Stadium Artificial 500
FK Riteriai Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 9 6th
Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157
FK Sūduva Marijampolė Sūduva Stadium
(Hikvision Arena)
Natural 6,250 20 2nd
Marijampolė Football Indoor Arena
(Hikvision FIA)
Artificial 2,660
FA Šiauliai Šiauliai Savivaldybė Stadium Natural 4,000 1 1st in I lyga
Gytariai Stadium Artificial 500
FK Žalgiris Vilnius LFF Stadium Artificial 5,067 21 1st
Sportima Arena Artificial 3,157

Managers edit

Current Managers edit

Team Coach Appointed In Charge Licence
FK Banga   David Afonso 3 June 2021 2 years, 11 months UEFA Pro
FC Džiugas   João Prates 15 June 2021 1 year, 11 months UEFA Pro
FC Hegelmann   Andrius Skerla 2 January 2021 3 years, 4 months UEFA Pro
FK Jonava   Petro Kushlyk 26 May 2022 1 year, 11 months UEFA Pro
FK Kauno Žalgiris   Rokas Garastas 3 December 2019 4 years, 5 months UEFA Pro
FK Panevėžys   Gino Lettieri 22 September 2022 1 year, 7 months UEFA Pro
FK Riteriai   Pablo Villar 24 May 2022 1 year, 11 months UEFA Pro
FK Sūduva   Matthew Silva (caretaker) 20 October 2022 1 year, 7 months UEFA Pro
FA Šiauliai   Mindaugas Čepas 1 December 2020 3 years, 5 months UEFA Pro
FK Žalgiris   Vladimir Cheburin 11 January 2021 3 years, 4 months UEFA Pro

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment
FK Panevėžys   João Luís Martins returned to C.S. Marítimo 30 November 2021   Valdas Urbonas 11 December 2021
FK Riteriai   Miguel Moreira end of contract 30 November 2021   Glenn Ståhl 27 January 2022
FK Sūduva   Víctor Basadre contract terminated 4 April 2022   Miguel Moreira 11 April 2022
FK Jonava   Eisvinas Utyra resigned 23 April 2022   Yevhen Lutsenko (caretaker) 23 April 2022
FK Riteriai   Glenn Ståhl resigned 7 May 2022   Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker) 12 May 2022
FK Jonava   Yevhen Lutsenko (caretaker) resigned 11 May 2022   Martynas Matuzas [a] (caretaker) 14 May 2022
FK Riteriai   Vaidas Sabaliauskas (caretaker) appointment of permanent manager 24 May 2022   Pablo Villar 24 May 2022
FK Jonava   Martynas Matuzas (caretaker) appointment of permanent manager 26 May 2022   Petro Kushlyk 26 May 2022
FC Džiugas   Marius Šluta sacked 13 June 2022   João Prates 15 June 2022
FK Panevėžys   Valdas Urbonas sacked 10 September 2022   Dainius Gleveckas (caretaker) 10 September 2022
FK Panevėžys   Dainius Gleveckas (caretaker) appointment of permanent manager 22 September 2022   Gino Lettieri 22 September 2022
FK Sūduva   Miguel Moreira mutual consent 20 October 2022   Matthew Silva (caretaker) 20 October 2022
FK Sūduva   Matthew Silva end of caretaker spell 30 November 2022 - -
  1. ^ Team's goalkeeper and U-19 youth coach, also playing as goalkeeper and the captain for the first team

Regular season edit

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Žalgiris (C) 36 26 6 4 85 27 +58 84 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Kauno Žalgiris 36 18 9 9 55 37 +18 63 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round
3 Panevėžys 36 18 8 10 50 31 +19 62 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
4 Hegelmann 36 16 13 7 62 32 +30 61
5 Riteriai 36 17 8 11 53 41 +12 59
6 Sūduva 36 15 10 11 48 40 +8 55
7 Šiauliai 36 13 11 12 39 39 0 50
8 Banga 36 6 12 18 33 54 −21 30
9 Džiugas (O) 36 5 12 19 34 67 −33 27 Qualification for A Lyga play-off
10 Jonava (R) 36 0 3 33 12 103 −91 3 Relegation to I Lyga
Source: A Lyga
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-off (for champion only) 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Head-to-head goals scored; 6) Head-to-head matches won; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Matches won; 10) Fairplay ranking; 11) Draw.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Fixtures and results edit

Rounds 1–18 edit

Home \ Away BAN DZI HEG JON KAU PAN RIT SIA SUD ZAL
Banga 3–3 1–0 1–1 3–1 1–2 0–4 0–0 0–1 0–2
Džiugas 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 3–5
Hegelmann Litauen 2–0 2–0 4–0 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2
Jonava 1–3 0–1 1–4 0–2 0–5 0–1 0–3 0–4 0–5
Kauno Žalgiris 1–1 2–1 1–3 4–0 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–3 2–2
Panevėžys 2–0 1–0 1–1 4–0 1–0 3–0 1–2 2–1 0–2
Riteriai 1–0 3–0 0–3 5–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–1
Šiauliai 1–1 3–2 0–0 3–0 0–1 0–3 1–0 0–0 0–1
Sūduva 3–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–5
Žalgiris 2–1 2–1 2–1 6–0 1–2 0–0 2–0 0–0 0–0
Source: A Lyga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 19–36 edit

Home \ Away BAN DZI HEG JON KAU PAN RIT SIA SUD ZAL
Banga 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–3 0–0 0–2
Džiugas 0–1 0–1 2–2 0–3 0–0 1–4 1–0 2–1 1–1
Hegelmann Litauen 5–0 5–0 6–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–4
Jonava 0–5 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–3 1–3 0–2 0–4
Kauno Žalgiris 3–0 5–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 2–2 0–2
Panevėžys 2–1 3–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 0–1
Riteriai 2–2 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 3–1 2–3 1–5
Šiauliai 1–1 2–2 0–0 2–0 0–3 1–0 3–2 2–0 3–0
Sūduva 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–2 4–1 2–1 2–1 1–2
Žalgiris 2–1 6–0 2–1 3–1 2–3 0–1 3–1 5–0 1–0
Source: A Lyga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

A Lyga play-off edit

The 9th-placed team, Džiugas, played a play-off against the second-placed team from I Lyga, FK Neptūnas, for the remaining spot in the league.[6]

First leg edit

27 November 2022 (2022-11-27) Neptūnas 0–4 Džiugas Klaipeda, Lithuania
13:00 EET (UTC+2) Report Jorge Eduardo   29', 73', 77'
Ankudinovas   67'
Stadium: Klaipėdos dirbtinės dangos stadionas
Attendance: 400
Referee: Donatas Rumšas

Second leg edit

30 November 2022 (2022-11-30) Džiugas 1–0
(5–0 agg.)
NeptūnasTelšiai, Lithuania
13:00 EET (UTC+2) Virkšas   69' Report Stadium: Telšiai Central Stadium
Attendance: 60
Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas

Top scorers edit

Goals Assists Player Club
17 2   Renan Oliveira FK Žalgiris
13 6   Vilius Armanavičius FC Hegelmann
13 3   Oleksiy Shchebetun FA Šiauliai
11 1   Kule Mbombo FK Sūduva
10 3   Rokas Filipavičius FK Riteriai
9 2   Daniel Romanovskij FA Šiauliai
9 2   Anton Fase FK Kauno Žalgiris
9 2   Mathias Oyewusi FK Žalgiris
9 0   Robertas Vėževičius FK Banga

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Pratęstas bendradarbiavimas su "Optibet" | A Lyga | Aukščiausia Lietuvos futbolo lyga".
  2. ^ "2022 metų "Optibet a lygos" sezono startas – kovo 4 dieną".
  3. ^ "Informacija apie licencijų pareiškėjus 2022-ųjų sezonui".
  4. ^ "Licencijavimo komitetas a lygos licencijas išdavė 8 klubams".
  5. ^ "Apeliacinis licencijavimo komitetas priėmė sprendimus dėl a lygos licencijos pareiškėjų apeliacijų".
  6. ^ "Pereinamosiose rungtynėse "Džiugas" buvo solidesnis". alyga.lt (in Lithuanian). A Lyga. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2023.

External links edit