FCI Levadia Had to Acknowledge Opponents’ Narrow Victory in the 102nd Tallinn Derby

On August 30th, FC Flora and FCI Levadia faced off in the 102nd Tallinn Derby at A. Le Coq Arena in the Premium League. The home team secured a 2:1 victory.

2360 spectators came to watch the Tallinn Derby, witnessing an exciting football battle. Flora started the game straightforwardly and took the lead in the third minute. Michael Schjönning-Larsen tried to control the ball going behind him but failed, and the ball bounced nicely to Sergei Zenjov, who faced Vallner and converted the opportunity that opened up.

The first half was entirely dominated by Flora. Already in the 9th minute, another dangerous scoring chance arose, but Sappinen’s shot rolled past the goal. The next attack came just four minutes later, but Vallner saved Danil Kuraksin’s shot.

FCI Levadia got their first half-chance in the 16th minute when Rasmus Peetson fired towards the goal from about 30 meters, but the ball clearly flew over and wide.

Just three minutes later, Flora launched a counterattack from the left flank through Kuraksin, who passed to Konstantin Vassiljev in the middle, who in turn passed to the right flank to Zenjov, who immediately returned the ball to Kostja. Kostja took a powerful shot, but Vallner saved this attack as well.

In the 22nd minute, Flora attacked again from their left flank through Kuraksin, who managed to bring the ball into the box. Sergei Zenjov got a shot off from inside the box, but Vallner saved it with his foot.

FCI Levadia had their first very dangerous opportunity in the 24th minute when a nice combination led to a shot from Richie Musaba, but unfortunately, his shot went just wide of the goal.

In the 43rd minute, a 2:0 goal was in the air when Kuraksin got away again from the left flank, passed to Sappinen on the run, but Vallner once again saved the shot. The halftime ended with Flora leading 1:0.

Second Half

FCI Levadia started the second half much, much better than the first. They applied pressure and pressing and began to impose their game more and more. In the 57th minute, they reached their first dangerous situation, but Mavretić’s long shot did not land in the goal.

FC Flora played on counterattacks. In the 67th minute, they earned a corner that became dangerous, but Vallner was alert at the near post and made a solid save.

In the 76th minute, Levadia’s best scoring chance occurred when Richie Musaba sent Yakovlev, who had been substituted at halftime, on a run. Yakovlev faced Grünvald, who saved the shot with his foot, but the ball was still rolling towards the goal. Central defender Kolobov rushed to help and saved the situation for Flora at the last moment.

In the 78th minute, a goal was scored that decided the fate of the match. Rauno Alliku made a run down the left flank, broke into the box, and took a shot—Vallner saved it and directed the ball towards the penalty spot. Tony Varjund picked it up from there, controlled the ball, and struck it into the net. Flora led 2:0.

In the 87th minute, hope and tension returned to the game. Ioan Yakovlev curled a ball into the box, which Flora defender Kolobov accidentally directed into his own net. The score was 2:1 for Flora.

In the 90th minute, Ioan Yakovlev took a long shot from the right flank. The shot was good and aimed at the near post, but Grünvald saved it and then caught the ball.

The game ended with a 2:1 victory for FC Flora. Now, there is an international break, and we will be back in the Premium League on September 14th.