Football | Gnistan missed a goal from a really hard trick – “Unbelievably hard performance”

Gnistan Saku from Heiskas22, was to become a big hero in the match against Ilves. With his goal in the 61st minute, Gnistan was locked in a place in the upper end series for a quarter of an hour in the last match of the Veikkausliiga regular season.

“Someone passed me on the wing. I got to challenge one on one, then I cut in the middle and saw space in the back corner”, said Saku Heiskanen.

Roman Eremenko and Armend Kabashi launched an attack that led to the goal. Apparently, all the opponents in the league still haven’t learned that Heiskanen can make fiery moves with his stick, even though he plays as a right winger.

“Apparently not. I had a place for another goal today, but it’s good that one came.”

It saddened the Gnistan players that getting to the upper end series was so close. Thirteen minutes before full time Ilves’ Nigerian striker Adelele Akinyemi scored his first goal in the Veikkausliiga. Gnistan was left with a disappointing 1–1 draw.

Lower as the winner of the final series, Gnistan could advance to the Eurocup playoffs, where the bet is a place in the Conference League qualifiers for next season. Entering the upper end series would also have been a kind of lottery win for Gnistan, as the program would have included a home match against HJK.

“We have a good period now, and now we are going to make the most of the lower final series,” Heiskanen said.

Heiskanen can now happily say that he made the right decision when he signed a contract with the rising team Gnistan in the winter. He moved to Gnistan from the United States. Gnistan offered him the best package.

“This has been a good season for me personally and also for the team. We have an amazing team and coaching group that help every day.”

“Head coach Jussi Leppälahti pushes us every day, and that’s why we’re in really good shape at the moment. Throughout the season, we have certainly trained harder than others. We go really hard in training. I’m a completely different man than I was in January.”

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“We were prepared for Gnistan’s male-oriented press, but we didn’t get out of it often enough.”

Gnistan’s Roman Eremenko organized scoring chances and tried to score a couple of times himself with a long shot. Picture: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Magazine photo

Gnistan the running condition is very visible in the games, when Gnistan catches the opponents with his aggressive press. It made Ilves’ game really difficult on Sunday.

“We didn’t get on top of the game. We were prepared for Gnistan’s male-oriented press, but we didn’t get out of it often enough. The flow of the game was very much against us”, head coach of Ilves Joonas Rantanen quoth.

Ilves was far from his best level. It gave an equalizer already in the opening period, when Roope Risk had to be replaced due to some injury. There was no doubt which team was better.

But Ilves got one slightly longer period in the second half, during which it was able to press Gnistan into the defensive zone. That pressure situation turned into a corner kick that led to the equaliser.

“The only thing missing from the end was the 2-1 goal. It would have crowned the regular season”, Gnistan’s head coach Jussi Leppälahti quoth.

Leppälahti thought it was an incredible performance that Gnistan has a place in the Eurocup games within reach.

“When an up-and-coming team comes up to fight for European places, it’s a tough deal. We have players who are not satisfied with this. Jukka Raitala and Roman Eremenko are thirsty for Europe. The rest of the season has been an incredibly hard performance.”