FCI Levadia emerged as the winner in the battle of leaders, taking a big step towards the title!

On August 25th, FCI Levadia hosted their closest pursuer, Nõmme Kalju, in the 25th round of the Premium League. In front of 1,402 spectators, FCI Levadia secured the victory.

Both teams started lively and energetically, but the first major scoring opportunity came for Nõmme Kalju in the 7th minute when Pavel Marin broke through on the wing, sending the ball across the goal, but no one managed to connect. The ball rolled out over the goal line.

This very attack marked the beginning of Levadia’s counterattack. Ioan Yakovlev broke through on his wing and cut inside. He managed to get a shot off, but the ball narrowly missed the goal. Only 8 minutes had been played.

Goal! Or maybe not. The entire A. Le Coq Arena thought FCI Levadia had taken the lead in the 12th minute, but VAR ruled otherwise. Ioan Yakovlev broke through on his wing again and passed to Musaba, whose shot from a few meters out was unsuccessful. The shot turned into a perfect pass that reached Roosnupp. Roosnupp hit the post from a meter out, and the ball bounced back to him, but it hit his hand, so the goal was rightly disallowed.

Goal! In the 20th minute, Robert Kirss scored a beautiful goal from 20 meters out. Õigus received the ball on the left wing, took his time, and waited for Robert Kirss to open up. The striker did just that and received the pass – with one touch, he turned towards the goal and fired a strong curling shot with his right foot into the far corner. The score was 1-0.

After this goal, something happened to Nõmme Kalju’s players, and within a few minutes, Richie Musaba and his teammates created several dangerous attacks. To keep the score close, Henri Perk had to make two excellent saves in the 28th and 29th minutes.

In the 30th minute, Kalju regrouped and managed a dangerous and prolonged attack, where they got multiple shots off, but only the final shot left the attacker’s foot by more than a couple of meters – not blocked. However, this shot narrowly missed the post.

Until the 41st minute, the game was more about fighting for position, then the center-back and Levadia captain Rasmus Peetson delivered a perfect pass to the front line, but at the last moment, a Kalju defender got a foot in the way. This led to a corner, where Peetson himself got a header, but the ball whizzed just past the far post. The halftime ended with this score.

Second Half

The second half started with the home team, FCI Levadia, maintaining possession and taking control of the game – Kalju tried to prevent it.

In the 54th minute, the Levadia goalkeeper recorded his first and very good save of the match, turning away a dangerous low shot for a corner.

In the 56th minute, Levadia responded with a very dangerous attack. Levadia’s forwards got a shot off – Henri Perk in Kalju’s goal saved Yakovlev’s shot, which rebounded to Robert Kirss, whose shot from a few meters out was blocked by a defender. Til Mavretic’s shot from outside the box was also blocked again.

In the 63rd minute, Kalju’s forward Marin went one-on-one with Karl Andre Vallner, but the latter prevailed and turned the shot onto the post.

WHAT A GOAL! Mihkel Ainsalu showed Robert Kirss that he can do it too! Substitute Joao Pedro passed from the wing to Mihkel Ainsalu, who turned towards the goal with one touch and smashed it into the top corner from at least 20 meters out!

A MINUTE LATER, 3-0! In the 66th minute, Mavretic skillfully outplayed the man marking him and headed towards the goal. He spotted a teammate running behind the line and delivered a perfect pass. Oliver controlled the ball well and sidestepped the oncoming Henri Perk, finishing into the empty net. The score was 3-0.

After this goal, the game’s pace slowed, and Levadia controlled the match. Nõmme Kalju created some half-chances and a free-kick, but they did not threaten Vallner. The game ended with a 3-0 victory for Levadia.

FCI Levadia’s next match is on August 30th away against FC Flora.

Photos: Brit Maria Tael.