November 25, 2020
The 2020 Veikkausliiga has now been completed, with HJK Helsinki being crowned champions.
After the 12 sides in the Veikkausliiga had played each other twice, the top six sides were to form the Champion Series whilst the bottom half of the table were to make up the Challenger Series for an additional 5 matches in a 27 game season. Unfortunately, due to the worsening Covid situation in Finland on October 28th it was decided that the Championship and Challenger rounds were to be scrapped and the table after the 22 game regular season was to be considered as the final table, with the only matches to be played thereafter being the relegation/promotion play-off.
When these diaries reviewed the Veikausliiga after round 18, KuPS and HJK were level at the top of the table, but with KuPS having a game in hand. Inter Turku were 7 points adrift but clear of a cluster of sides battling for 4th place. At the bottom RoPS looked doomed, whilst TPS had improved to lie just 3 points behind Haka with a game in hand. A good run in their last 4 games could also have seen 9th placed IFK Mariehamn achieve a top 6th finish ( or higher ).
KuPS played HIFK in their game in hand and after playing like champions in waiting and leading 3-0 after 89 minutes, they gave away 2 late goals to only win 3-2. Nevertheless this took KuPS back to the top of the table with a three point lead over HJK with 4 matches to play.
Round 19 provided more twists and turns. KuPS made the trip to Inter Turku to face a side who had lost the Cup Final on home soil in their last match, and were on a run of just one win in their last 7 league games to slip out of contention for the title. However, Inter had still won 7 out of 9 home league games and they produced their best performance in a while to deservedly win 2-0 and inflict a first away defeat on KuPS. Inter’s first goal was scored by 21 year old Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan, ironically on loan from HJK, with Connor Ruane, born in Warrington but who grew up in Spain, scoring a fabulous second to clinch the win in the second half.
With a hard fought 2-1 win at SJK Seinajoki, HJK moved back to the top of the table on goal difference. Whilst Roope Riski’s first half shot took a huge fortunate deflection to give HJK the lead, there was no debate about Tanaka’s tremendous curler into the top corner to win the game.
At the bottom Haka and TPS met in a crucial match in the relegation struggle. Although TPS looked the better side, Ojala’s smart finish 11 minutes from the end gave Haka a vital 2-1 victory to take them 6 points clear of TPS, albeit having played a game more. In other matches, Honka, Ilves and Lahti all won in the battle for fourth place.
Round 20 saw KuPS host fourth placed Honka, but KuPS slipped to another 0-2 defeat conceding a goal in each half, the first being a wicked deflection that wrong-footed keeper Virtanen. After KuPS laid siege to the Honka goal in the second half, a sucker punch counter attack saw Demba Savage slide home a second goal 8 minutes from the end. HJK met HIJK and a good crowd of 2,840 saw HJK get revenge for the 3-4 defeat earlier in the season with a 3-0 win to go 3 points clear at the top. All three goals came in the final 20 minutes with the crucial first coming when Vayrynen headed home after a rebound from the keeper had bounced off him and onto the bar.
Inter followed up their win over KuPS with a solid win at Lahti, thanks to two predatory strikes from Slovenian ex-Notts County striker Filip Valencic, bringing to an end to Lahti’s 5 game unbeaten run. At the bottom Haka ground out a valuable point in the sleet at Ilves with a 0-0 draw, but TPS closed the gap to 4 points by hammering RoPS 4-1 with Santeri Haarela grabbing a hat-trick. Two goals in the last 5 minutes converted a 2-1 lead into a 2-3 loss for IFK Mariehamn against SJK Seinajoki, and a 9th game without a win meant they were now in the relegation struggle.
In Round 21 KuPS played their match 4 days ahead of HJK’s, and after 77 minutes were on course to go level with HJK as they led 2-1 at home to Haka thanks to two goals by Udo, and were looking in control. However, ex Bolton Wanderers man Medo’s long range shot squeezed into the corner for an equalizer that Virtanen probably should have saved. Having to score again to stay in the title race, KuPS pushed forward, but inevitably gaps were left at the back, and in added on time, with a chip over the keeper reminiscent of Kenny Dalglish’s European Cup Winner against Club Brugge, Ojala scored the winner for Haka. With a 2-3 loss for KuPS, HJK only needed a point at IFK Mariehamn to win the league, and just as importantly, Haka moved 7 points clear of TPS.
A crowd of 2,249 witnessed the Turku derby, but it was all over as a contest at half-time with Inter leading TPS 3-0, and that was how the scoreline remained. Also, Honka’s 2-1 home win over Lahti ensured them of a top 4 finish in the regular season and Ilves’ 3-1 win at SJK meant they would be 5th.
With the FA now having decided to scrap the Championship and Challenger Series it meant TPS needed to win their final two matches to avoid the relegation play-off and hope IFK Mariehamn lost their last two matches. TPS kept their hopes alive with a 1-0 win at home to SJK, veteran Mika Aaritalo intercepted a poor back pass to score the only goal, whilst Mariehamn crashed 0-5 at home to HJK, a result that also meant HJK were champions. Three first-half headers, two of which were from Roope Riski, taking him to 15 for the season, set them on their way.
With the cancellation of the Championship round, the three Europa Conference places were already known before the last set of fixtures were played so the attention was focused on the identity of the side to end up in the relegation play-off place. TPS hosted fading KuPS needing to win and hope Haka, now safe from relegation, would do them a favour by beating IFK Mariehamn, who were on a run of six consecutive defeats and without a win in 10 games.
TPS went ahead in the second minute and so temporarily moved out of the bottom two. Mariehamn though quickly responded by taking the lead at Haka with a penalty from Ademi in the 12 minute after he had been brought down by the Haka keeper.
IFK’s goal then lead a charmed life in the first half and Haka hit the woodwork three times and keeper Forsman made point blank reaction save when a goal looked inevitable. It looked even bleaker for TPS when KuPS took a 2-1 lead with 17 minutes to play but the drama continued with two goals in a minute to give TPS a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes left. An equaliser for Haka would have seen Mariehamn still finish above TPS on goal difference so TPS required Haka to score twice in the closing stages. In the 94th minute Forsman was called upon to make a fine double save to preserve IFK’s lead so with the win Mariehamn moved above Haka in the final table.
In other games, Inter’s draw at new champions HJK was enough for them to take second place.
Club By Club Summary
HJK Helsinki – lost only twice all season and ended the season with an 8 game unbeaten run. Had the joint best defensive record but by some distance the highest scorers, with Roope Riski winning the golden boot. Unbeaten home record ( 5 draws ) and 8 wins away from home. Only Veikkausliiga side with players in the most recent National Squad ( Alho, O’Shaughnessy & Schuller ). Also won Finnish Cup
Inter Turku – ended the season well with 13 points out of 15 to steal second place. A spell of 5 games without a win mid-season took them out of contention for the title. Best home record in the league ( 9 wins from 11 ) but let down by away form of just 3 wins. Took 4 points from HJK.
KuPS – Finished third in two horse race for title after losing last 4 matches when the championship was theirs to lose. Had only lost once in first 18 matches
FC Honka – only lost 3 matches all season but 10 draws prevented any serious title bid. Scoring was a challenge, with only 26 goals all season.
FC Ilves – lost only one of last 8 matches with 18 year old Naatan Skytta looking an outstanding talent.
FC Lahti – the definition of mid-table with 6th best home and away records. Didn’t win against any of the top four, but didn’t lose to anyone below them
SJK Seinajoki – Inconsistent. They started the season poorly with only one win in their first 11 matches but then won 4 out of 5 to move to move into contention for a top 6 finish. No draws in last 13 games.
HIJK – faded badly with just 6 points in last 9 matches. High point was the exciting 4-3 derby win over HJK, and they also were victorious over Honka.
IFK Mariehamn – were looking good for a top 6 finish at the end of August after 4 wins in five, but 6 matches without a point trot meant they had to get a result on the last day at Haka to avoid the relegation play-off. Worst defence record after RoPS. Albijon Ademi scored 14 of their 29 goals and earned a call-up to the Albanian Under 21 squad, but was only on target once in the 9 game losing run.
FK Haka – were looking in trouble with 5 games to play, but 10 points in next 4 games ( including wins at Honka and KuPS, and vitally at home to TPS ) ensured survival and rendered the last day defeat to Mariehamn meaningless ( for them anyway ). Only one home win all season though.
TPS – took a long time to adjust to higher level, and lost first 5 matches. 12 points from last 9 games, including a win over KuPS and a draw at HJK, was not quite enough to secure survival.
RoPS – a nightmare of the season, just one win ( at Haka ), two draws and only 15 goals scored. Conceded 3 or more goals 11 times in 22 league matches.
Top Scorers
Roope Riski ( HJK ) 15
Albion Ademi ( IFK ) 14
Timo Furuholm ( Inter ) 10
Tim Vayrynen ( HJK ) 9
Jasin Assehnoun ( Lahti ) 9
Jean Marie Dongou ( Honka ) 8
Naatan Skytta ( Ilves ) 7
Lauri Ari-Myllymaki ( Ilves ) 7
Aniekpeno Udu ( KuPS ) 7
Relegation/Promotion Playoffs
11th November, 2020
KTP 0-0 TPS ( att : 1,315 )
11th November, 2020
TPS 1-1 KTP ( att : 2,469 )
Kotkan Tyovaen Palloilijat ( KTP ) play in Kotka, on the coast 135km east of Helsinki and earned their place in the play-off by finishing second in the Ykkonen, three points behind AC Oulu but 6 points ahead of Jaro. AC Oulu were automatically promoted in place of RoPS. KTP have won the Finnish Championship twice ( in 1951 and 1952 ) but have spent only one season in the top flight in the 21st Century, being relegated after a play-off in 2015.
Having finished 11th in the Veikkausliiga TPS were appearing in play-offs for second year running, having earned promotion last season overcoming KPV 3-0 on aggregate.
For the first leg in Kotka the KTP line-up included three Spaniards, a Nigerian, a Georgian, and Estonian International full-back Hindrek Ojamaa, and in a tight game the best chance fell to Ojamaa in injury time, but he shot wildly wide from just outside the six yard box.
In the second leg, KTP started strongly, hitting the bar and forcing a point blank reaction save in the opening 15 minutes but TPS looked to be heading for survival when Albijon Muzaci’s sweet left footed volley gave them the lead in the 58th minute ofin the second leg. Their joy turned to despair 7 minutes from time when Antti Makijarvi equalised with a thumping header. 5 minutes of added on time were played, and the last of these minutes KTP keeper Lepola saved on his line to prevent a dramatic headed own goal from a corner. With away goals counting double, KTP were promoted !
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