Åland United rose to the top of the league in the National Football League, when it claimed a clear 5–0 victory over the league champions TPS.
Kuopio Palloseura, which changed its head coach in the National Football League, returned to the winning position when it claimed a 2–0 victory over Ilves.
The reigning champion KuPS had lost in their two previous matches, first to HJK 0–4 and last weekend to Åland United 3–4. The match against Ilves was the first for the new head coach Pauliina Miettinen under.
– The victory came, I am so happy. The first game was of course a little tense, I’m relieved, Miettinen, who coached from the stands as usual, commented after the game.
Miettinen replaced the sidelined one on Wednesday Ollipekka Ojalan. Ojala, who piloted KuPS since 2019, told Savon Sanom that he had left out of team action due to exhaustion.
Miettinen only had two days to prepare his team before the match against Ilves.
– It’s been a terrible time, but nice. I have enjoyed every minute. I have been working late into the night and slept very little. I forgot to announce the starting line-up yesterday, they only found out today, Miettinen admitted.
KuPS dominated the match events in the opening period and led 2–0 after 45 minutes. Anni Hartikainen opened the visitors’ goal taps after just over half an hour. Oona Siren made the lead 2–0 with a nice shot a few minutes later.
At the beginning of the second period Lavdije Begolli got to try to score twice from close range, but made excellent saves in the Ilves goal Meri Hämäläinen repelled the attempts of last season’s goal queen. In the second half of the second period, the closest to the third goal was the Brazilian striker Ana Paula Silva Santos.
– The team did the things I asked for today. The ball moved and we were able to create superior forces. It was simple gameplay, not so much forcing. It already looked a bit like my kind of game, but it still has to be much better. There needs to be more movement and more rotations. The turnovers have to be better, they weren’t good today, Miettinen listed.
The new head coach admitted that the team will start training on Monday.
– There is still a lot of work to be done, the horse shed starts on Monday and we will run, the team needs to get in shape, Miettinen commented.
With the win, KuPS took second place in the series. It is level on points with league leaders Åland United and third-placed HJK.
Åland United to the top of the league
In the opening match of the round, Åland United claimed a clear 5–0 victory over TPS. The visitors led 2–0 after the opening period Sanni Ojanen and Aada Törrönen with goals.
In the second period, United scored three more times: Dana Leskinen hit in the 72nd minute, Anna Nurmi with his fourth hit of the season just over ten minutes later and Jacqueline Hand on the other hand finished the final score 5–0 in extra time. The hit was already the sixth of the season for the New Zealander and he rose to the shared top spot in the league’s goal exchange together with the HJK striker Lotta Lindström with.
With the win, United rose to the top of the league with 18 points. It is tied with HJK, who played less in the match, and KuPS, who returned to a winning position. In the final match of the round, HJK will face ONS, who are at the bottom of the series, on Sunday.
Honga management liked
HPS, who were in the medal position before the start of the season, already suffered their fourth loss of the season, when FC Honka took a 2–1 victory over the team from Helsinki. The people from Espoo scored their goal in the opening period. Elli Seiro scored in his second consecutive match as he fired home a 1–0 lead in the 25th minute. The people of Espoo scored their second goal from a corner just before the break. The goal was eventually awarded to the one who gave the corner For Noora Juusela.
HPS took the lead in the second period, after the transfer from KuPS Anna-Stina Simonen narrowed the game in the 72nd minute. However, the hit was the last of the match. HPS is seventh in the series, while Espoo’s team is fourth.
In Myyrmäki, PK-35 Vantaa defeated PK-35, which was still looking for its opening win of the season, 2–0. The opening goal of the match had to wait until the 76th minute, until the captain Sanna Saarinen succeeded in scoring. The final score was 2–0 Reetta Suomela.
You can see the league table at this link. Mikko Aaltonen interviewed Pauliina Mietti in Tampere.