Pärnu Vaprus continued their dominance over Tammeka this season, winning 4–1 away and completing a clean sweep of four victories against the Tartu side. The star of the night was 16-year-old Marten-Chris Paalberg, who struck a hat-trick to become the youngest player in Estonian top-flight history to achieve the feat.
“It was a very good game from us. I like scoring goals, and finally it came. I’m very happy, we’ll keep working and see at the end of the season how many goals I’ll have,” Paalberg told Soccernet TV after the final whistle. “In the end, hard work pays off and that’s where the goals come from.”
Although a 35th-minute red card to Tammeka’s David Epton helped tilt the match, Paalberg was quick to emphasise the collective effort. “I think it’s the team’s work. Without the team we wouldn’t get these kinds of scores and wins. Big credit to the whole squad.”
For Vaprus, the result carried extra sweetness after a heavy 1–6 defeat to Tammeka in a pre-season friendly. “I think that loss only grew our appetite. Now we’ve shown in the Premium Liiga that we didn’t deserve that defeat,” Paalberg noted.
After a setback against Flora in the previous round ended their five-game winning streak, Vaprus began a new run in convincing style. “As our head coach said, every streak comes to an end sooner or later. Now we showed that we can still play. I want a win against Kalev. That’s the real bonus for me — I’m focused on winning,” said Paalberg.
On the losing side, Tammeka centre-back Sander Alex Liit admitted that his team paid the price for a sluggish start and a costly dismissal. “It’s definitely a big disappointment. We started slow — couldn’t adapt to their game plan, let runners in behind us, conceded goals too easily and once again picked up a totally unacceptable red card. … We kept telling ourselves the game wasn’t over and gave our maximum, but an hour with ten men and already behind is very tough,” he reflected.
Liit, on loan from Nõmme Kalju, still values his spell in Tartu despite the setback. “The feeling is good. I’m getting game time and the team has welcomed me well. The Harju match went rather well, but today I have to admit a couple of goals were on me. I could have done better. There’s still a lot of work ahead.”
Looking ahead, Tammeka now prepare to face Flora away on Saturday. “We need a reset now. Look in the mirror and go to Tallinn to fight Flora for three points,” said Liit.
Source: https://soccernet.ee/artikkel/rekordimees-paalberg-lopuks-kannab-too-vilja
