Estonia round-up: Rivals hand Flora title chance
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
Article summary
FC Levadia Maardu and TVMK Tallinn's draw has all but handed FC Flora the title.
Article body
Levadia take charge
The Tallinn rivals at least produced a thrilling encounter for the capacity crowd at the Kadriorg stadium. Levadia were much the dominant force in the early stages and broke the deadlock just before the break when midfield player Mati Pari hit a low shot in off the post.
Krõlov hits 35th of the season
TVMK restored parity ten minutes after the restart through a Maksim Kisseljov tap-in after a header by Anatoli Novozilov had come back off the post. And four minutes later they went ahead when the league's top-scorer Andrei Krõlov went down under a challenge from Dmitri Kulikov in the penalty area. Krõlov then converted from the resulting spot-kick to record his 35th goal of the season.
Pari sets up equaliser
Levadia pressed for the equaliser and their endeavour was rewarded with 15 minutes to go as the impressive Pari, who had previously rattled the crossbar with a stunning overhead kick, released a perfect through-ball to substitute Vitali Leitan who beat goalkeeper Sergei Ussoltsev with the slightest of touches.
Rivals concede defeat
With four games of the season remaining Flora are four points ahead of Levadia whose Finnish coach Pasi Rautiainen admitted that his side had little chance of overhauling the leaders. He said: "We have about a ten per cent chance of winning the title." Levadia captain Sergei Hohlov-Simson did not dispute Rautiainen's assertion, saying: "We are disappointed as our aim was to the win the league and that now seems further away then before."
Flora march on
Defending champions Flora had little trouble overcoming FC Lootus Kohtla-Järve 3-0. Tor Henning Hamre made it goal number 20 of the season, driving home a penalty on 14 minutes. Joel Lindpere then doubled the advantage just before the break and Martin Reim wrapped up the points in the 74th minute.
Narva lose again
JK Trans Narva's bad run of form, which has seen them collect just one point in the last five games, continued, with a 1-0 home defeat to JK Tulevik Viljandi. Cup winners FC Levadia Tallinn moved up to sixth place following a 6-0 win against JK Tervis Pärnu.
