HJK 2 TPS 2
Pasi Rautiainen’s haircut garnered a lot of headlines when he unveiled it at the Veikkausliiga media event on the eve of the season. The formerly wild-haired TPS coach claimed that his new, clean-cut image was the result of a marital diktat after his wife finally snapped at her husband’s barber-aversion.
His innately scruffy style still finds an outlet though, as you can see when he slams his clipboard down in frustration after Mikko Paatelainen’s header was disallowed at a free kick. His battle with his green bib looked to have been successfully resolved with a Rautiainen victory in the highlights reel. It’s a great result for TPS, and although they apparently threatened most from set pieces and could do with a little more creativity, they would have settled for a point beforehand.
The announced attendance of 3,527 raised a few eyebrows, as Veikkausliiga clubs in general and HJK in particular are renowned for utilising a little creative licence when deciding these numbers.
Tampere United 0 FF Jaro 2
Tampere United’s League Cup form was nowhere to be seen. The win over HJK in last week’s final was secured without Aleksei Kangaskolkka, who returned from suspension today but did not replace his understudy Jonne Hjelm. Instead Antti Ojanperä made way, TamU’s midfield was weakened, and Jaro took full advantage.
The changes since the successful League Cup campaign are difficult to explain. Ilari Ruuth was replaced against HJK after playing very well throughout the campaign, but after winning the trophy nobody could complain too much, and Sakari Saarinen kept his place. The team looks unbalanced now though, and Hjelm needs to bring back Ojanperä into midfield and drop Kangaskolkka or Jonne Hjelm, while quite possibly letting 18 year old left back Ilari Ruuth return to the side.
Jaro were very impressive. Heikki Aho adds composure and experience to the backline, Papa Niang did not give up when he seemed to be getting nothing from the referee and goaded the TamU fans magnificently when he scored, and Sebastian Männström has matured into a very promising attacker. Watch out for the second goal, as Saarinen knees Männström in the head and leaves a big whole for Petter Meyer to run into and lash the ball past Kavén.
The announced crowd of 2,512 looked roughly accurate, but the big gaps in sponsors hoardings suggest there may still be a hole in TamU’s budget.
Inter Turku 2 MyPa 1
big things were expected of Joni kauko this season, and he delivered a little bit on those expectations today. A goal after 9 minutes and a thumping strike against the crossbar soon afterwards helped Inter banish memories of their hiccup in Mariehamn, before repeated failure to clear the ball resulted in Ilari Äijalä’s 90th minute equaliser. There was still time for Giulliano Grot to get a winner and save Inter’s blushes, though.
The attendance was announced as 3,127, and I will leave Juha to comment on it’s veracity as he was actually there.
IFK Mariehamn 2 FC Honka 2
Attendance: 1,626
FC Lahti 1 KuPS 0
Attendance: 2,113
April 24th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
HJK-TPS was definitely value for money as you could watch two different games and only pay for one. The first one finished around after 35 minutes of play and HJK dominated, thrashed, made fun of TPS until then, but only leading by 1-0.
Then something happened, I am not sure what. HJK players did not use Popovitsh anymore, but instead Hauhia and Kärkkäinen wanted to take part of the game failing miserably. TPS was over all the pitch and the early dominance of HJK was all gone.
TPS scored three times, – one of the goals getting disallowed due to poor refereeing as an offside – and looking like a comfortable winner until one of the best players on the pitch, Medo equalized.
HJK do still have the best material, except in the CD,CD and RD positions and on the bench and that might be just bad enough not to win the championship otherwise well deserved.
Welcome back Pasi, anytime!
April 24th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I would have gone for something below 3000 as far as Inter’s attendance is concerned. The announced figure might be quite realistic, but I’m still pretty surprised about the fact that the reigning champions’ return to their home ground after a long winter did not attract more people. Especially when someone from the club said they’re expecting over 4000 people when interviewed on local radio.
On the other hand, it is the kind of figure Inter has usually had in recent years, so not much room for complaints there.