Finland round-up: MyPa maintain the pace

Myllykosken Pallo-47 continue to lead the way at the top of the Finnish Veikkausliiga after clinching a comfortable 3-0 home victory against VPS Vaasa tonight.

Könönen opener
Tuomo Könönen gave MyPa the lead in the 38th minute and Miikka Multaharju doubled the advantage 16 minutes after half-time as the hosts took control of the match. VPS battled manfully to get back into the game but could not find a breakthrough and fell 3-0 behind in the 74th minute, Luiz Antonio completing the scoring at the Anjalankosken stadium.

Point behind
Second-placed FC Inter Turku kept up their relentless pursuit of the pacesetters with a 4-1 home victory against FC Hämeenlinna. First-half strikes from Mathias Lindström, in the 14th minute, and Mats Gustafsson, after 28 minutes, gave the home side a convincing 2-0 lead at the break.

Win capped
Lasse Peltonen gave the visitors a glimmer of hope when he pulled a goal back in the 56th minute, but any thoughts of a comeback were extinguished ten minutes later when Richard Teberio made it 3-1 to the hosts. Mika Niskala then capped the win with a fourth goal with 14 minutes left. Inter remain a point behind leaders MyPa with a game in hand.

In the hunt
HJK Helsinki are a further point behind Inter in third place, also with a game in hand, after they claimed a 2-1 win at FC Jazz, the bottom club. Reigning champions Tampere United FC were held to a 1-1 draw at AC Allianssi, while FF Jaro suffered a disappointing 3-0 home defeat against FC Lahti.

Intertoto blow
Meanwhile, FC Haka will be without influential striker Valeri Popovitch for their UEFA Intertoto Cup second round first-leg tie against Fulham FC in London on Saturday due to his fear of flying. The 32-year-old Russian is the club's top scorer with seven goals in 12 matches this season, but he will be unable to help his team against Jean Tigana's side.