After a humiliating week in the Europa League, where all three Finnish clubs were eliminated at the first round (TPS, Inter and IFK Mariehamn), normal service resumed this weekend. Apologies for the delay, I went to see Book of Mormon on Monday...
Jaro 7-1 Lahti
Saturday afternoon saw a complete drubbing in Pietarsaari, and Jaro finally putting some of their recent good play to devastating use. Things got underway after nine minutes, with Markus Kronholm slotting home a deep cross from the right. Ten minutes later, Canadian striker Frank Jonke got his name on the scoresheet, heading in a free kick. It wasn't his only contribution...
Jonke flies in (photo via Markuu Jokela)
Lahti had a chance to halve the deficit straight after but Kullström cleared off the line. Jonke rounded off the first half latching onto a through-ball, and pushing the ball past Joronen with his first touch. He then completed his hat-trick after 58 minutes, firing in neatly. A minute later, Jonas Emet's lovely finish capped off a nice move, making it 4-0 on the hour. Chief creator Hendrik Helmke turned finisher, poaching a pass from Jonke after 72mins.
Lahti pulled a goal back with 12 minutes remaining, Vini Dantas lashing home from the edge off the box. But there was still time for drama - Kullström stumbled when trying to receive a pass, and when Rafael pounced on the ball, and was prompted hacked down on the edge of the area as he was turning towards goal. The red card promptly followed, his second of the season. Jonke scored his fourth, and Jaro's seventh in the 87th minute, heading in another Helmke free kick.
Jaro move up to fourth, with 26 points from 18 games. Lahti remain 11th, with 18 points from 18 matches.
Jonke with his hat (photo via Jaro's Twitter)
Lahti pulled a goal back with 12 minutes remaining, Vini Dantas lashing home from the edge off the box. But there was still time for drama - Kullström stumbled when trying to receive a pass, and when Rafael pounced on the ball, and was prompted hacked down on the edge of the area as he was turning towards goal. The red card promptly followed, his second of the season. Jonke scored his fourth, and Jaro's seventh in the 87th minute, heading in another Helmke free kick.
Highlights of Jaro 7-1 Lahti
Jaro move up to fourth, with 26 points from 18 games. Lahti remain 11th, with 18 points from 18 matches.
HJK 3-0 VPS
The weekend had opened with first playing third - leaders HJK hosted VPS for the second time this season (VPS won the fixture 0-2 in May). The visitors were without key players Dafaa and Parikka, while HJK were fresh from a week off, after their match against TPS was postponed.
Any fears of a similar result were dispelled by the champions, thanks in main to two stunning strikes. The first was from an unlikely source, Sakari Mattila smacking in from 25 yards out, just before half time. A second goal wasn't far away, eight minutes into the second period. Rasmus Schüller scored a fantastic half volley from outside the box after VPS failed to cleared a corner. Two-nil up, and VPS's plan had gone to pot. A coolly taken finish from sub Mikael Forssell in injury time sealed the points.
VPS lost another key player, Henri Sillanpää was injured in a clash with Nikolai Alho in the second half, and had to be replaced. At the time of writing, there's no word on how serious his knee problem is. The result was good preparation for HJK's opening Champions League qualifier against Estonians Nõmme Kalju on Wednesday.
The second goal flies past VPS keeper Sillanpää
Any fears of a similar result were dispelled by the champions, thanks in main to two stunning strikes. The first was from an unlikely source, Sakari Mattila smacking in from 25 yards out, just before half time. A second goal wasn't far away, eight minutes into the second period. Rasmus Schüller scored a fantastic half volley from outside the box after VPS failed to cleared a corner. Two-nil up, and VPS's plan had gone to pot. A coolly taken finish from sub Mikael Forssell in injury time sealed the points.
Forssell makes it three (photo via Nikolai Alho's Instagram)
VPS lost another key player, Henri Sillanpää was injured in a clash with Nikolai Alho in the second half, and had to be replaced. At the time of writing, there's no word on how serious his knee problem is. The result was good preparation for HJK's opening Champions League qualifier against Estonians Nõmme Kalju on Wednesday.
Highlights of HJK 3-0 VPS
HJK remain top with 36 points from 18 games, with a goal difference of +22 (ahead of Honka), VPS are third, with 29 points from 18 games.
IFK Mariehamn 1-4 Honka
Mariehamn had suffered hugely in the last ten days - losing Diego Assis and Dever Orgill for the season, and being elminated from Europe at the first attempt.
Honka on the defensive (photo via Peter Eriksson)
They did take the lead in this match, Pekka Lagerblom's Gascoigne-esque volley on 13 minutes. But it served to wake Honka - Tim Väyrynen equalised on 36mins after a move starting with the keeper, to make it 1-1 at half time. Henri Aalto then gave the visitors a spectacular lead 11 mins into the second half from the edge of the area, quickly followed by a goal from Kastriot Kastrati. Väyrynen scored again with 15 minutes to go from a Baah cross, catapulting himself to (at that point) joint top of the scoring charts, level on eight goals with Orgill.
Highlights of IFK Mariehamn 1-4 Honka
IFK Marehamn are now eighth, with 25 points from 19 games. Honka open their Europa League campaign on Thursday, and they are joint top with HJK, with 36 points from 19 matches, but a GD of +8.
KuPS 2-1 JJK
JJK had spent much of the last week in the press for the wrong reasons. Still bedding in with a new coach, it was revealed last week that they'd need to raise 100,000 EUR in order to keep going. At the time of writing (Tuesday), they'd reached the halfway point, with four weeks to spare. Some of their fellow Veikkausliiga clubs had helped out - but rivals KuPS weren't in a charitable mood.
Crazy dancing (photo via Vartaloharhautus)
KuPS had the freedom of their left wing for the majority of the first half, Gambian defender Omar Colley crossing the ball in with alarming regularity. With 15 minutes gone, Ilja Venäläinen got on the end of a Colley cross and beat the keeper at the near post. KuPS created chance after chance, mostly down the left, but a combination of poor finishing and reckless final balls meant it stayed 1-0 until the last minute, when Chris James handled in the area. JJK sub Eero Korte stepped up and scored the penalty, and everyone thought JJK had secured a vital point.
Ketsbaia? (photo via Vartaloharhautus)
But Venäläinen had other ideas - in the 92nd minute, he played the ball out to the left (again), and got on the end of the resulting cross to score his ninth goal of the season, taking him top of the Maalikuningas chart. KuPS had won, and crushed their rivals in the process.
Highlights of KuPS 2-1 JJK
KuPS move up to seventh, with 25 points from 19 matches. JJK remain stuck at the bottom, with fourteen points from 18 games.
MYPA 2-1 TPS
After being knocked out of Europe by Luxembourg's Jeunesse Esch on Tuesday, midfielder Wayne Brown said "we have to make it up in the league and push for the title". They took on a MYPA side with one win in six - and TPS lost again.
Midfielder Jonathan Okafor's first goal of the season gave the hosts the lead on 36 minutes lashing home while virtually unmarked, before Pekka Sihvola's first goal in nine games on the stroke of half-time made it 2-0. TPS got a consolation in injury time, MYPA sub Patrick O'Shaugnessy unfortunately poking in while trying to defend a cross.
Highlights of MYPA 2-1 TPS
MYPA leapfrog TPS with that win, moving up to fifth with 26 points from 18 games, a GD of +2. TPS have 26 points from 17 games with a GD of +2, but have scored fewer goals.
Inter 0-0 RoPS
Inter complained to UEFA after their defeat to Vikingur on Thursday, amid strange betting patterns in relation to the 'both teams scoring' market. There was little danger of that happening on Sunday. Inter had only scored three goals in their last nine league games, while RoPS had scored four times in nine away league matches.
If I had a few extra quid, I'd have put it on this being a 0-0. Sorry, but I don't think I'll bore you with highlights or a photo. Inter are tenth, with 22 points from 19 games. RoPS are ninth, also on 22 points from 19 matches, but with a slightly better goal difference. Phew.
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