Haka and Lahti face final hurdle

FC Haka will face FC Lahti in the Finnish Cup final on 9 November in Helsinki following two exciting semi-finals tonight.

Fortunate deflection
Haka came out on top in a tense home match against FF Jaro. The hosts started brightly and defender Sami Rintanen deflected Harri Ylönen's angled shot past his own goalkeeper on 22 minutes.

Ruhanen strikes gold
Haka continued to push forward in the second half and doubled their lead in the 55th minute when Valeri Popovitch freed Ylönen, who played a lovely through-ball to Jukka Ruhanen to roll the ball into the net.

Joy in Valkeakoski
Jaro pulled one back when Fredrik Svanbäck's fierce 20-yard drive flew into the back of the net on 78 minutes but they could not find a leveller and Haka's fans celebrated into the night outside the Tehtaankenttä stadium.

Tense draw
Lahti's qualification was not so simple as they had to beat AC Allianssi 4-2 on penalties following a tense 1-1 draw. Lahti goalkeeper Gábor Bardi pulled off stunning saves to deny Mikko Paatelainen and Adriano, but he could do nothing to stop Petteri Kajasilta's goal on 33 minutes.

Down to ten men
Lahti dominated the second half and hit the post three times before Tuomas Haapala levelled in the 62nd minute. However, they had to survive extra time with only ten men after Pekka Lagerblom was sent off and the game went to a penalty shoot-out.

Bardi wins the day
With the score in the shoot-out at 3-2, Bardi saved Paatelainen's poor shot then Janne Hannula kept his nerve to make it 4-2 before Bardi denied Adriano to seal Lahti's place in the final.