Kuopio Palloseura advanced in the Conference League qualifiers. SJK’s sky in the competition ended.
KuPS continues in the Conference League qualifiers. JUHA TAMMINEN / AOP
Kuopio Palloseura advanced from the second qualifying round of the Conference League to the next round. KuPS beat Moldavian Milsam 4–1 away from home and progressed with 6–3 on aggregate.
The first leg had ended a week ago in Kuopio with a 2-2 draw.
In Moldova, KuPS started strongly and took a 1–0 lead in the 27th minute of the game, when Gabriel Bispo succeeded in scoring.
Milsami tied the match at the very end of the first period, when Radu Ginsari headed the ball from the free kick into the Kuopio team’s net.
However, KuPS quickly took the lead again at the beginning of the second period, when Tony Miettinen struck Sebastian Dahlström a 2–1 lead from a corner kick.
After the lead, KuPS started to press more and scored two more goals at the end of the match.
First in the 88th minute of the game Daniel Carrillo took KuPS to a 3–1 lead and in overtime Filip Valencic made the final score 4–1.
In the third qualifying round, KuPS will face either the Swiss Young Boys or the Latvian team FK Liepaja.
Crushing loss for SJK in Norway
SJK’s success in the Conference League qualifiers came to a bitter end when Norwegian Lilleström took a 5-2 victory over SJK in Norway. At the same time, Lilleström advanced to the third qualifying round with a combined score of 6–2.
The teams’ first leg had ended with Lilleström winning 1–0 in Seinäjoki.
The Norwegian team started scoring even now, when Ifeanyi Matthew took the home team to a 1–0 lead in the 23rd minute of the game.
Noah Laine brought SJK to a 1-1 draw just over ten minutes later, but Hólmbert Fridjonsson put Lilleström back in the lead in the final minutes of the first period.
Fridjonsson eventually became SJK’s nightmare, as the Icelander scored two more goals in the second period. Fridjonsson gave the Norwegian team a 3–1 lead in the 56th minute of the game and about five minutes later scored his third goal of the match to make it 4–1.
Right at the end of the match Colin Roesler took the Norwegian team to a 5–1 lead. Diego Rojas completed SJK’s second goal, but it was a thin consolation.
Thus, Lilleström advanced to the third qualifying round of the Conference League with a combined score of 6–2.