Meistriliiga week 35: Ten man Flora rescue a point

Flora 1-1 Trans

Flora came from 1-0 down with ten men to secure a vital point against Trans at the A.Le Coq Arena on Saturday. This was always going to be Flora's biggest test in the run in and a game that could have diverted the title to Kalju. Flora were behind within 15 minutes as veteran striker Maksim Gruznov was set free by Sergei Leontovitš and rounded Aiko Orgla in the Flora goal to finish. Flora looked to be in deep trouble as Henri Anier was sent off for a second bookable offence on 65 minutes but they were given a lifeline when Aleksandrs Abramenko bundled into Markus Jürgenson as he broke into the penalty box. The spot kick was awarded and Valeri Minkenen converted to level the scores. The game finished 1-1. 

As expected, Kalju won comfortably against FC Ajax Lasnamäe - a 7-0 win with goals coming from Hidetoshi Wakui, Tarmo Neemelo (2), Eino Puri, Alo Bärengrub, a Šamil Mussajev own goal and wonderfully named Kouakou Fabrice Elysee Kouadio. Paide defeated Viljandi 2-0 to secure a respectable league finish of sixth and Tammeka won by the same scoreline at Kuressaare to stay seventh. Two goals from Igor Subbotin gave Levadia a 2-0 win in Sillamäe as they look likely to finish fourth. 


Flora play Viljandi at the A.Le Coq Arena tomorrow night where a win for Flora will see them retain their hold on the Meistriliiga title, their ninth success overall. 

Meistriliiga week 34: Kalju keep pressure on Flora

Kalju 3-0 Kuressaare

Kalju scored a comfortable 3-0 win over Kuressaare at Hiiu on Saturday to keep the title race alive at least for another week. Juri Jevdokimov opened the scoring just before half time with a chest and volley from the edge of the box. Tarmo Neemelo made it twenty for the season with a tap in on 49 minutes and Hidetoshi Wakui wrapped things up with a near post finish two minutes from time. Flora had to come from behind to win 2-1 at home to Paide. The visitors looked on course for an upset after Tiit Tikenberg's 54th minute goal, but goals from Henri Anier and Zakaria Beglarišvili gave Flora a nervy but vital win. 

Flora host Trans next Saturday, who have just fallen out of the title race courtesy of a 2-0 defeat at home to Levadia at the weekend. Trans though would love to have a say in where the title goes and are well capable of doing so, especially now the pressure is off. 

Tammeka 2-0 Sillamäe 

Tammeka won 2-0 at against Sillamäe in Tartu. Sillamäe had been reduced to nine men following two straight red cards for nasty challenges. Albert Prosa scored two late goals to give Tammeka the points. Viljandi thumped FC Ajax 8-0 in the other game of the day. FC Ajax will be delighted to see the Esiliiga again next season. JK Tallinn Kalev are currently sitting top of the Esiliiga with the excellently named FC Infonet in second just two points behind with two games remaining. Kalev were relegated from the Meistriliiga in 2009 after three seasons in the top flight. Infonet only formed in 2010 following the merger of two local Tallinn teams, Atletik and Bercy.  

Meistriliiga week 33 - Flora not there yet

Goals from Saturday 15th October

As Estonia came back down to earth following the national side’s qualification for the Euro 2012 play offs, the Meistriliiga continued with matches on Saturday and Tuesday and with the title race not quite yet decided.

Flora’s 11-0 demolition of FC Ajax on Saturday (Flora have scored 33 goals against the bottom of the league side this season) was coupled with a slightly disappointing goalless draw against Tammeka in Tartu on Tuesday. Kalju’s double of 3-0 wins against Sillamäe and Viljandi means they gain some ground and Flora, but Martin Reim’s side remain favourites with four games to play and a game in hand over Kalju. Flora’s trickiest remaining fixture will be welcoming Trans to the A.Le Coq Arena on 29^th October.

Trans themselves are not out of the title race after a very late winner from Aleksandrs Cekulajevs gave them the points at Paide. A win for Trans over Flora would make things interesting going into the final week.

Kuressaare’s recent good form continued with their third win in four games at home to Viljandi – Märten Pajunurm scoring a brace for the islanders. Paide also picked up a very good win against Levadia at Maarjamäe, Mait Nõmme scoring a first half winner for Paide.

Tammeka 0-0 Flora

Recent results

Saturday 15^th October

Kuressaare 3-0 Viljandi

Sillamäe 0-3 Kalju

FC Ajax Lasnamäe 0-11 Flora

Paide 0-1 Trans

Levadia 3-0 Tammeka

Tuesday 18^th October

Kalju 3-0 Viljandi

Levadia 0-1 Paide

Tammeka 0-0 Flora

Remaining fixtures

Flora

Paide (H) – 22^nd October

Trans (H) – 29^th October

Viljandi (H) – 1^st November

Viljandi (A) – 5^th November

JK Kalju

Kuressaare (H) – 22^nd October

FC Ajax (A) – 29^th October

Paide (H) – 5^th November

Narva Trans

Levadia (H) – 22^nd October

Flora (A) – 29^th October

Sillamäe (H) – 5^th November 

Estonia seal Euro 2012 play off spot

Northern Ireland 1-2 Estonia

Estonia have cemented their first ever play off spot for a major tournament following their 2-1 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast last Friday, coupled with Slovenia's 1-0 win over nearest rivals Serbia in Maribor last night.

Konstantin Vassiljev came off the bench to score two late goals giving Estonia a win in their final group game over Northern Ireland. Steven Davis had given the Northern Irish the lead from close range midway through the first half. Vassiljev replaced Tarmo Kink on 65 minutes and then won and converted a penalty (initial contact looked to be outside the box, but we'll let that go) to level the scores. His 84th minutes winner was a belter from 25 yards into the top corner as the Northern Irish defence had stopped, appealing for offside. The linesman had flagged believing a forward pass had come from an Estonian boot, but the referee was well placed to see that it was in fact a ricochet off a Northern Irish player and correctly ignored the flag. 

Estonia were still reliant on Serbia slipping up against Slovenia last night. Serbia needed to win as a draw would have left them level on points with Estonia but with an inferior head to head record. Dare Vrsic's goal for Slovenia on the stroke of half time gave Serbia an uphill task and they could not find an equaliser, let alone a winner, leading to celebrations across Estonia. They won't even be too fussed about their 0-2 friendly defeat against Ukraine in Tallinn last night.

The play offs will be seeded (based on performance in recent tournaments and qualification campaigns), meaning that Estonia can expect a tough tie. The final seedings are to be finalised today as they calculate the final scorings, but the seeded teams will almost certainly be Croatia, Portugal and Czech Republic, along with one from Republic of Ireland, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

The draw for the play offs is this Thursday (12pm GMT) and the matches will take place on either 11/12th November and 15th November. The draw for the Euro finals takes place on Friday 2nd December at 5pm (GMT). 


Final Group C table

	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
Italy	10	8	2	0	20	2	+18	26
Estonia	10	5	1	4	15	14	+1	16
Serbia	10	4	3	3	13	12	+1	15
Slovenia	10	4	2	4	11	7	+4	14
Northern Ireland	10	2	3	5	9	13	-4	9
Faroe Islands	10	1	1	8	6	26	-20	4