The evening of the Finnish teams in the European games did not go victoriously.
SJK’s Jake Jervis missed a penalty kick in an important match. Juha Tamminen, AOP
On Thursday, KuPS and SJK played in the Uefa Conference League qualifying matches on their home fields. It was the first matches of the second qualifying round.
KuPS received the Moldovan Milsami Orhei. After a scoreless opening half, goals were scored in spades.
The people of Kuopio had time to take the lead twice, but Milsami managed to win a 2–2 draw. Tim Vayrynen managed to give KuPS the lead in the 84th minute, but the visitors equalized just three minutes after that.
In addition to the late equalizer, the draw was unfortunate for KuPS, as the team was the more dominant side in the match.
In Seinäjoki, SJK lost their first leg of the qualifiers to Norwegian Lilleström with goals 1–0. He was responsible for the only goal of the match Vetle Dragsnes in the 68th minute.
Just before Lilleström’s goal, SJK had an excellent place to take the lead, but Jake Jervis missed the penalty kick.
The second parts of both matches will be played a week from now on Thursday, when KuPS travels to Moldova and SJK to Norway. The next place is decided by the overall result.