VPS and HJK drew 1–1 in the Veikkausliiga. SJK claimed the points from Valkeakoski with 3–0 goals.
HJK, fighting for the Finnish football championship, had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Vaasa as a guest of VPS. HJK is now two points behind KuPS, who played one match less.
HJK’s goal in the 33rd minute was answered by a familiar man. Joined the team in July Lee Erwin has now scored five goals in the league and another five in European games.
VPS was level when the match had been played for a good 70 minutes. The people of Vaasa got three corner kicks in a row and from the third Samuel Lindeman headed the ball into the goal. The goal was his first in the league.
VPS came close to taking all the points, but HJK’s Dutch goalkeeper Thijmen Nijhuis made a great save Luka Smyth’s to the butt.
KuPS will not play this round’s match against Ilves until Tuesday, because it will play in the final of the Finnish Cup on Saturday.
SJK crushed Haka
In the second match of the evening, SJK claimed the points away from FC Haka with goals 3–0.
Rasmus Karjalainen took the away team’s lead already in the third minute in a situation that smelled like offside.
– That’s how it seemed. But we had chances to score three goals already in the opening period, Karjalainen admitted in Ruuttu’s halftime interview.
Karjalainen, who scored his seventh hit of the season, passed Kasper Paananen 0–2 goal. The hit was also Paananen’s seventh of the season. In the second episode Jaime Moreno with his 11th goal moved to the top of the goal exchange alone.
For Haka, the loss was the second in the upper end series, and a medal is no longer a reality. On the other hand, from the fifth place, you can definitely enter the Euro final tournament. The teams from places 3–7 or from places 4–8 can get there if KuPS beats Inter in the final match of the Finnish Cup.
The draw was SJK’s Hemmo Riihimäki the first of his career in the league.
– We have had very few clean sheets. The show was really good. We were able to attack the spaces left by Haka very well. We defended super well, Riihimäki said in an interview with Ruuttu.
SJK is fourth in the series, two points away from Ilves, who played less matches. Ilves will therefore face KuPS on Tuesday.
Series table