Endless Football Show in Belfast! First, Larne knocked out HJK, who were completely confused – eventually Roope Risk became the hero in the follow-up match

HJK has advanced to the 2nd qualifying round of the football Champions League after an unimaginable and confusing battle with 3-2 on aggregate.

The second leg of the 1st qualifying round between HJK and Larne FC ended in full time on Wednesday with the home team winning 2–1. Thus, the total goals were tied at 2–2, and we advanced to the follow-up match, the hero of which was Roope Risk.

Clearing the 1st round of the Champions League was extremely important for HJK in terms of the continuation of the European summer. Next, HJK will face Norwegian Molde FK in the Champions League qualifier.

Even one win in the next pair of matches would mean at least a place in the Conference League, which HJK qualified for in the summer of 2021. Last summer, HJK advanced to the Europa League.

In addition to these times, HJK has advanced to the group stage of European games twice: in 1998 to the Champions League and in 2014 to the European League.

First a week of turmoil

A week ago, HJK beat Larne with a tight performance, when Bojan Radulovic succeeded from the penalty kick at the very beginning.

Then HJK dominated the events, but did not get to the finish line. The team was plagued by familiar problems, slowness and difficulty breaking into scoring areas. For example, a 20-year-old winger Top Middle described the feelings as “frustrated”.

In addition, in the second period, the underdog Larne was clearly closer to equalizing than HJK to additional goals. The next day we saw a rare case, when HJK, which had just won the European Cup, was fired by the head coach For Toni Koskela. A replacement was hired Toni Korkeakunnas.

Korkeakunnas stated to Urheilu bluntly that quick changes are needed. Gaming needs to be streamlined and simplified and to find joy in doing it, Korkeakunnas said.

After the coach change, the striker Kai Meriluoto moved on loan to Polish Stal Mielec and Fullback Miska Ylitolva for a loan to KTP. Movement in the other direction is also expected. Korkeakunnas said that the available number of players “is not enough to begin with.”

They were still sidelined for the second match against Larne due to fresh injuries Matti Peltola and Perparim Hetemaj and sick Santeri Hostikka.

The match between Larne and HJK was played in Belfast at the artificial turf stadium of the Cliftonville team, as Larne’s own home ground did not pass UEFA’s requirements.

Tuomas Ollila started in relief

HJK made five substitutions for the previous week’s match against Larne. Now the goalkeeper was on the bench or on the sidelines Jesse ÖstPeltola, Hetemaj, Atom Tanaka and Hostikka. The goalkeeper started in their place in the starting line-up Dejan Iliev, Tuomas Ollila, Joona Toivio, Georgios Kanellopoulos and Anthony Olusanya.

In addition, for example previously seen as a wing pack Try Soiri played in a more attacking role, while Ollila played in the defensive line.

The second half had been played in the 25th minute, when Top Middle won a loose ball at the attacking end, went astray and picked up a pass to Olusanya. The ball went to Ollila, who entered the box, who placed the ball in the net.

Shortly after this, the goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson stretched to make a top save from the bottom corner when Radulovic was able to make a header.

On the other hand, there were a few really dangerous places at the other end, for example at the end of the opening period Leroy Millar shot narrowly past the goal from the top corner.

Compared to HJK seen this season, it was easy to believe what things Korkeakunnas had emphasized to his team. HJK attacked more aggressively and the game wavered a lot from end to end.

The commentators of Larne’s match broadcast wondered the same thing, who stated that HJK had “more speed and more progression on the field, whereas last week it was static”.

Towards a thriller ending – and the melting of the Club

In that sense, the match followed the first encounter, that the further the game progressed, the more clearly HJK lost its grip.

After an hour, the scoring attempts were already 11-2 in favor of the home team, even though the ball control was equal.

The match had been played for 62 minutes when a pinpoint cross found the Larne striker at the back post By Lee Bonis. Northern Irish goalkeeper Jesse Öst cleared the shot, but the situation was checked by VAR. The slow motion showed that Bonis’ header had hit someone who had foolishly jumped into the situation Jukka Raitalan on.

Bonis passed the tough Öst, who had replaced Iliev, who had a hard concussion in the opening period, with a goal. The narrow goal ignited a flame in the team that celebrated its first Northern Ireland championship in the spring.

The grinding went on and on. Larne charged a long ball into HJK’s box, but until the 87th minute, Klubi managed them under the leadership of Öst. Until Andy Ryan’s the cross found the back post of Joseph Thomson – a retelling of the situation that led to Larne’s injury. A top Miro Tenho tried to save the ball from the goal line, but Thomson’s volley sank irresistibly into the net.

At this point, the total goals were tied, and the away goal rule is no longer in use in European games. However, Larne’s rush was so strong that it seemed that HJK would not be able to survive even until the next match.

The club woke up to the start of the follow-up match

Moving on to the next match, the game calmed down for a while and HJK was able to build an organized attack that had been going on for a long time.

Lucas Lingman and Soiri played a wonderful wall pass on the edge of the penalty area. Then Soiri found the front post from the switch and got into the ring Roope Riskin, whose control sank into the network. However, the hit in the statistics is a marked defender Shaun Wantin own goal.

This time, HJK played time well enough and fiercely endured the attacks and special situations of Larne, which was still looking for a new promotion.

– What a huge rollercoaster of emotions, the narrative of the Northern Irish people bundled up.