Finland round-up: KuPS keep up winning streak

KuPS Kuopio belied their lowly league position to crush AC Allianssi 4-0 in their Veikkausliiga match this evening. Having performed the same feat against leaders Myllykosken Pallo-47 last weekend, tonight's win saw KuPS leapfrog FC Hämeenlinna to go ninth.

Big win for KuPS
Peter Sampo doubled his season's goal tally to four with two strikes in eight second-half minutes after Antonio Pogioli Marco had put KuPS ahead on 22 minutes. Janne Savolainen completed the rout nine minutes from time. Allianssi coach Ari Tiittanen admitted: "KuPS totally slashed our defence apart and were sharper in front of goal."

Vaasa lose again
FC Jazz left the home fans in Vaasa feeling blue by claiming the points with a 2-1 victory against VPS Vaasa. It was the home side's fifth straight league loss and the poor run has seen them hit rock bottom with only two victories to date.

Early promise
Tonight's defeat was their fourth successive loss to Jazz after they had looked like ending their poor run when Tomi Sauso opened the scoring after just two minutes. But young striker Ilkka Santahuhta equalised in the 35th minute with his first league goal before Jani Raukko grabbed the winner with just five minutes left on the clock.

Narrow win for Jaro
FF Jaro won the duel of last season's promoted teams leaving Hämeenlinna's record 2,653 crowd of the season disappointed. "The players were probably tired. We could not play the way we are able to. I just have to congratulate Jaro," said Hämeenlinna's coach Hannu Touru. Niklas Storbacka scored the winner after 33 minutes. He collected the ball from a Jaro corner clearance and fired the ball into the bottom left hand corner of goalkeeper István Tarlósi's net.