Football | A good result for Gnistan in Oulunkylä – the first-timer became a hero

Football VGnistan, a tiny newcomer to the Eikkausliiga, bravely sought victory, but had to settle for a 0-0 draw with giant club KuPS in Oulunkylä, Helsinki.

The exciting fight was watched by 2,282 spectators, including the chairman of the Football Association and the co-owner of KuPS Ari Lahti.

“Inefficient, no challenge, no going for the goal and too much passing, and turned too slowly. But I’m satisfied with the point”, the head coach of KuPS Jani Honkavaara rib.

The match turned out to be very crowd-friendly, only the goals were exhausted. And Gnistan’s goalkeeper Jiri Koski that I face Johannes Kreidl reached a complete deadlock, preventing hits with numerous basic and phantom tackles.

One the player rushed past the others to become the most potential finisher. Gnistan striker Joakim Latonen immediately hit four goals in the early season games, rising to the top of the scoring market, but since then, no goals have been seen.

On Sunday, Latonen stood out as an active and advanced creator of places, but even in the best seams, situations ended up being tackled, blocked or for some other reason.

“It’s really sad, I had those plots – I couldn’t get the ball into the goal. After all, we got to play two against two against toppers”, Gnistan’s Latonen said.

Instead of Latonen, Gnistan’s hero became Koski, who immediately reached a clean sheet in the first full major league game of his career. Koski made his debut at HJK in 2016 as a small change and will celebrate his 29th birthday on Monday.

“Jiri (Koski) has been a really good cleaner, Conscientious and fun. Now I got responsibility for the game and fortunately I succeeded”, praised Latonen.