Welcome back after the international break - Finland lost, various other things were sorted, and most things in Finland were already decided. But there was a bronze medal, and a Europa League place, up for grabs. In the end, the final round of games on Sunday is going to be pretty meaningless, albeit that may help the goals flow... Anyway, here's a quick summary of Sunday.
VPS 3-0 Jaro
After a hanging loosely onto the coat-tails of the leaders for the early part of the season, a run of five defeats in six games ended the idea of a first title since the 40s. But the club were resilient enough to keep in third, with mostly the same squad that struggled in 2012. A first European campaign in 14 years awaits anyway.
The inventor of netting sleeps safely at night (photo via Linus Lindholm)
An early penalty (7mins) by Tony Björk set up proceedings after skipper Strandvall was brought down, and the captain scored one of his own just before half-time to make it 2-0 with a lovely finish. Tomi Ameobi slammed in the third from a good five feet out (62mins), his eighth goal of the season. VPS celebrated wildly, with the bonus of inflicting Jaro's eighth consecutive defeat. Jaro need to beat RoPS on Sunday to avoid ending another year in 11th.
Highlights of VPS 3-0 Jaro
VPS will end the season in third place. With one game left, they have 51 points from 32 games, and play at IFK Mariehamn on Sunday. Jaro are eleventh, with 34 points from 32 games, and host RoPS in their last match.
TPS 3-3 IFK Mariehamn
This match was quite the spectacle, or at least the last twenty minutes was. Well worth one of my Urho credits... Anyway, TPS galloped into a three goal lead, a brace from Petteri Pennanen (45, 54mins) and one from Juho Lähde (58mins). A Mariehamn win would have taken the third place race to the last day - and they nearly did it. Goals from Bright (76'), Ibrahim (77') and Hradecky (84') levelled, and an injury-time miss from the usually prolific Luis Solignac almost won the game against the odds.
Highlights of TPS 3-3 IFK Mariehamn
TPS are in eighth place in the table, with 41 points from 32 games, and visit Lahti on the final day. IFK Mariehamn are fourth, with 46 points from 32 matches, and host VPS.
Honka 4-2 Lahti
Honka had been guaranteed second place for a while, but after a rotten run, they hosted the in-form Lahti on an emotional day (the final home matches for Tuoman Peltonen and Sampo Koskinen). Lahti took the lead (14mins, Hauhia), before Väyrynen's 16th goal of the season (35') equalised. The visitors went in 1-2 up after Loorents Hertsi scored (42'). Honka came out fighting though, goals from Mombilo (59'), Äijälä (73') and Porokara (75') ensured Lahti would not reach Europe, and their heroes would go out on a high note.
Highlights of Honka 4-2 Lahti
Honka will finish in second place. They have 58 points from 32 games, and play at Inter on the last day. Lahti are fifth, with 45 points from 32 games, and host TPS on Sunday.
JJK 0-5 HJK
Bottom against top - it wasn't going to be pretty. Even a flu-ravaged HJK were far too strong for the already relegated JJK - goals from Sorsa (16'), Zeneli (23, 61'), on-loan Markkanen (46') and Schüller (70') put a convincing shine on the result. As a fan of a Premier League club, the idea of Markkanen scoring against his parent club is a little odd, but hey-ho...
Highlights of JJK 0-5 HJK
HJK are champions, and have seventy points from 32 games, they host KuPS on the final day. JJK are bottom (12th) with 22 points from 32 matches, they visit MYPA on Sunday.
KuPS 1-2 Inter Turku
It snowed in Kuopio, as my friends and relatives kept telling Facebook. Unfortunately, both teams had little to play for, so the result was perhaps slightly unpredictable. Last year's top scorer Sirbiladze likes KuPS so much, this was his third goal in three games at the Savon Sanomat Areena. Dawda Bah equalised on 57mins, but Gruborovics scored the winner on 64mins, and meant that Inter can't finish lower than ninth.
Highlights of KuPS 1-2 Inter
KuPS are seventh, with 41 points from 32 games, and will be guests at HJK's title party on Sunday. Inter are ninth, with 40 points from 32 games, and will host Honka.
RoPS 0-1 MYPA
MYPA announced on Friday that they had agreed a partnership with Brazilian club Fluminense, but rather than the sunny beaches, they travelled to Lapland to visit RoPS. I've not seen the highlights yet, but Sasha Anttilainen's 73rd minute goal was the winner. RoPS are now winless in their last eight league matches, but have a Suomen Cup to show for it. MYPA have virtually guaranteed another top half finish, and are in the running for the Fair Play nomination.
RoPS are in tenth place, with 34 points from 32 games, and they visit Jaro on Sunday. MYPA are sixth with 44 points from 32 games, and host relegated JJK on final day.
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