Veikkausliiga Recap: KuPS Thrashes Gnistan 6-0 to Take the Lead, While Inter Turku Shares Points

KuPS claimed a commanding 6-2 victory over Gnistan on Tuesday night, regaining the top spot in the Veikkausliiga standings. They held on to this position following Wednesday’s matches, as Inter Turku was unable to secure a win against Mariehamn. In a surprising turn of events, HJK squandered a 2-0 lead to suffer a 3-2 defeat against the struggling Jaro, marking one of the season’s biggest upsets.

Gnistan has already demonstrated their potential to knock over the league’s heavyweights this season, and they nearly managed to pull off yet another surprise when a dreadful blunder from goalkeeper Aatu Hakala allowed Joakim Latonen to capitalise and score first, putting them 1-0 ahead after just 16 minutes.

However, the visitors found themselves reeling as KuPS responded with three goals within the last eight minutes of the half. Agon Sadiku got the ball rolling with a close-range finish, followed swiftly by Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba, who netted from a corner – his fourth goal in just two matches.

Just before the break, Sadiku added his second goal when a blocked shot fell kindly into his path inside the area, and he made no mistake with the finish.

Hakala’s misfortune continued early in the second half as he fumbled a long-range strike from Didrik Hafstad. Just three minutes later, however, KuPS was awarded a penalty, and Sadiku confidently stepped up to complete his hat trick.

Petteri Pennanen then slammed in a low effort from 25 yards for the fifth goal, and ten minutes from the end, Mohamed Toure broke free from a weary Gnistan defence to seal the final score at 6-2.

This marked back-to-back league victories for the champions following a rough patch, while Gnistan has managed just one win from their last six outings.

KuPS took the top position, which was anticipated to be temporary; however, they will remain in first place a bit longer due to Inter Turku’s inability to beat Mariehamn in a goalless draw.

The unbeaten Turku side missed a golden chance to snatch all three points with just 20 minutes remaining, as Axel Kouame failed to convert a penalty.

With three draws in their last four games, the Turku side is struggling to secure wins, while the solitary point is insufficient to prevent Mariehamn from dropping to ninth place.

Meanwhile, Inter Turku’s standing slipped to third after Ilves managed to fend off a late surge from strugglers KTP to achieve a 2-1 victory at home, leaving them just a point behind KuPS.

Oiva Jukkola opened the scoring for the Lynx shortly after the quarter-hour mark, and they doubled their lead with Marius Soderback scoring in the opening moments of the second half.

Substitute Rangel pulled one back for KTP five minutes from the end, but they couldn’t find an equaliser, remaining just a point ahead of last-placed AC Oulu, who had no match this midweek.

The round’s biggest surprise came from Jaro, who shocked HJK by coming back from 2-0 down to clinch a 3-2 victory in Helsinki, closing the gap on the top half of the table while HJK remained in fifth after consecutive losses.

Familiar names Alexander Ring and Teemu Pukki struck for HJK on either side of half-time, both notching their seventh goals of the season, with Ring scoring a stunning free-kick.

However, Jaro’s star striker, Kerfala Cissoko, then took centre stage, netting his eighth and ninth goals within five minutes to level the match.

In a dramatic finish, Rudi Vikstrom silenced the Bolt Arena crowd by scoring the winner for Jaro in the sixth minute of injury time. Jaro has now claimed two wins from their last three matches, while HJK suffers its second loss in less than a week.

In the final match on Wednesday, Haka recovered from an early setback to defeat VPS 2-1 away from home, moving up to eighth place, just three points behind their opponents, who remain winless in their last three matches.

Maissa Fall gave the hosts an early lead, but Haka turned the game around with an Eetu Mommo thunderbolt and a winner from Jean-Pierre Da Sylva, all by the 33rd minute.