HJK’s head coach Toni Korkeakunnas was satisfied with his team’s performance in the losing match against PAOK.
HJK’s career in the group stage of the football Conference League began with a home loss to the Greek club PAOK 2–3. HJK led the match 1–0 Hassane Bandén with a goal from a corner kick, but came under a lot of pressure in the second half.
HJK’s head coach Toni Korkeakunnsen you can never be satisfied with a loss, but you can with the team’s game look and courage.
– The result and the loss of the lead are disappointing. The opponent operated with a slightly different budget and roster than us, but we were able to develop a good plan and the boys played well, especially in the first half. It was completely under our control.
According to Korkeakunnas, the first half was proof that with good preparation you can challenge much tougher teams in advance.
– At the beginning of the second half, we got behind from one bad pass. A corner kick followed, we had to defend a lot. We got through that too and after that we had two excellent chances to score another goal. When they didn’t succeed in that, PAOK got more control again.
Bojan Radulovic at the beginning of the second period, as a result of HJK’s long demolition ball, he was able to drive through, but the shot hit the post.
Shortly after Radulovic’s substitution, PAOK equalized in the 55th minute and took the lead in the 82nd minute. In overtime, the Greek team scored one more goal. HJK also struck in overtime, when Radulovic scored the final points from the penalty kick following a hand foul.
– We had a lot of good moments, but they weren’t good enough to deserve a win, Korkeakunnas summed up.
Need a new goalkeeper?
HJK suffered a setback when the goalkeeper Niki Mäenpää was injured at the beginning of the match.
– Since I started after the middle of July, this was the fourth goalie injury in the middle of the game. I don’t remember anything like this before, Korkeakunnas wondered.
– Mäenpää has a calf injury, he was on set today. During the Veikkausliiga season, he probably won’t be in the lineup anymore.
Korkeakunnas admits that the purchase of a new goalkeeper may be necessary.
– Jesse Öst has become a good goalkeeper. Then there is the young Alex Ramula, but there is nothing else. Apparently, it is possible to get a goalkeeper in the Conference League in case of injury, but it is not easy to find one.
Mäenpää initially became the number one goalkeeper when Dejan Iliev was injured at the end of July in the SJK match.
HJK’s program continues to be compact. Next up are the league games on Sunday as a guest of SJK and on Wednesday at home against Honka. However, HJK has a wide circle in Finland, so recycling can be done.
Korkeakunnas reminds that playing every three days is familiar to HJK and the situation is now significantly better than in July, when fewer players were available. However, there are injury concerns in the defensive end when they are on the sidelines Miro Tenho, Aapo Halme and Matti Peltola.
– I don’t think there will be any bigger problems in the SJK match. There isn’t much to recycle downstairs, but all the other places have fresh and hungry friends. The Honka game will certainly be calculated more precisely, who can be parsed into it.
According to MTV Urheilu Korkeakunnas would be the number one candidate for HJK’s coach next season. He has also worked as an assistant coach of the national team. If the contract with HJK goes through, he might not be able to continue in Huuhkaj. The higher authority itself does not want to comment on the situation in more detail.
– When I started, it was agreed that we would see in November what job I would continue with. Now let’s go one day at a time and enjoy where we are. It’s fine for me in any case, I’m the second or third most wanted laundry in Finland.
In the conference league, HJK’s next match is on October 5 as a guest of Aberdeen.