The top two in the Veikkausliiga HJK and KuPS played to a 2–2 draw in the final round of the regular season. FC Inter claimed a place in the upper secondary series, VPS, on the other hand, already has a ten-game winning streak.
The top fight of the round was played at the sold-out, 10,121-pair Töölö football arena in Helsinki. After colorful stages, HJK and KuPS ended in a 2-2 draw, which guaranteed HJK first place in the regular season with one point difference to KuPS. At the same time, the Club got the home advantage for the potentially championship-deciding, final round match against KuPS.
The first half was divided, as KuPS was on top for a long time, and HJK, on the other hand, dominated the rest of the opening half. KuPS took the lead after a corner kick when Axel Widjeskog shot over the crossbar in the 15th minute of a 1–0 away goal. HJK went up to 1–1 Matti Peltolan With a goal scored in the 44th minute, which he started near the end line Bojan Radulovic.
In the second period, Radulovic, who led the Veikkausliiga regular season goal exchange with 15 full hits, scored a 2–1 goal for HJK in the 50th minute. Just eight minutes later, the people of Kuopio rose to a 2-2 final score. Tete Teng the shot went off From Miro Tenho to HJK’s network.
– The main thing is the sadness when we got to a 2-1 situation at home. The roast stayed in the oven this time, comments the HJK coach Toni Korkeakunnas.
– The team’s mental edge was good when we were level in the match. Good atmosphere and a good level of play in my opinion. The goals that were scored against us were a bit disappointing, stated the coach of KuPS Jani Honkavaara.
FC Inter to the upper secondary series, everything is easy at Vepsu
In Turku, FC Inter and AC Oulu settled for the sixth place, i.e. the last place entitling to the upper secondary series. The people of Oulu should have dug for an away win to get there, but it remained a dream. Inter won the game 2–1 Petteri Forsellin and Timo Stavitsky with goals.
– It’s great that we made it to the championship and we get to play against tougher teams in the rest of the season. Our game has been going so well lately that there are still small gaps in the fight for medals, said the mainstay of Inter’s defense Juuso Hämäläinen for STT.
Oulu’s coach Rauno Ojanen wondered about the lack of a gearshift in the second episode.
– The opening period was a good fight from us, but our game tempo completely faded in the second period. The passing game was worse once again, and we succumbed to easy mistakes, Ojanen lamented.
Vaasa Palloseura can’t find a stopper in the domestic series. VPS beat IFK Mariehamn 2–1 away Peter Michael’s and Yevgeny Bashkirov with goals. It was a win Jussi Nuorelan for protected roads for the tenth time in a row.
– We couldn’t have imagined at the beginning of the season that we could get into such a winning streak. Everything seems to be easy now compared to the beginning of the season, described the Luton-born winger of VPS Tyler Reid for STT.
Series three SJK lost to FC Haka 0–1 at Valkeakoski. Elias Mast cloth completed the solution at the beginning of the second half.
FC Lahti took a valuable home win over Ilves with 3–2 (0–1). The Lahti team fired its head coach Mikko Mannilan on Thursday. A new man for the sticks was found in the old coaching group, when Toni Lindberg signed a contract for the rest of the season. On Sunday, Lindberg got a dream start to his career as a head coach.
In addition to HJK and KuPS, SJK, VPS, Honka and Inter went to the upper secondary series of the best six. AC Oulu, Haka, FC Lahti, Ilves, KTP and IFK Mariehamn will continue their season in the lower promotion series. The programs for the follow-up series will be published on Tuesday, September 5.
Final round of the regular season:
FC Inter–AC Oulu 2–1 (1–1)
FC Lahti–Ilves 3–2 (0–1)
HJK–KuPS 2–2 (1–1)
KTP–FC Honka 1–2 (1–0)
IFK Mariehamn–VPS 1–2 (1–2)
FC Haka–SJK 1–0 (0–0)