Birthday gift for the club left unmade. 2–1 loss to Paide

Today, on 22 October, FCI Levadia celebrated its 27th anniversary by playing a Premium Liiga Round 33 match against Paide Linnameeskond. To stay in the title race, the goal was clear – to take all three points. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t happen.

Levadia started the match with the following lineup:
Karl Andre Vallner (GK), Michael Schjonning-Larsen, Tanel Tammik, Mark Oliver Roosnupp, Edgar Tur, Brent Lepistu, Mihkel Ainsalu (C), Ernest Agyiri, Carlos Torres, Victory Iboro, and Gabriel Wendell.

Both teams needed a win – Levadia to remain in the title fight, and Paide to keep their hopes alive for third place. The first half began with Paide pressure, but as the half went on, Levadia found their rhythm. The breakthrough came late in the half, when Gabriel Wendell scored in the 45th minute, giving Levadia the lead.

However, the lead didn’t last long – just a minute later, in the 45+1st minute, Paide capitalised on a quick counterattack and equalised 1–1. The teams went into halftime level, meaning the second half had to start from scratch.

The second half remained tightly contested, but only Paide managed to score. In the 78th minute, Henri Anier found the net, putting his team 2–1 ahead. Levadia couldn’t recover from that, suffering a painful defeat on their birthday — and in front of their fans, in the last home match of the season.

Levadia was also forced to make a substitution: in the 53rd minute, Tanel Tammik had to leave the pitch due to a head injury and was replaced by Til Mavretic, the team’s second captain. The regular captain, Rasmus Peetson, missed the match due to a red card suspension from the previous round.

Levadia’s next match takes place on Sunday at 19:30, when they travel to face Pärnu JK Vaprus at the Pärnu Rannastaadion.

Photo: Katariina Peetson / EJL