Shamrock Rovers and Estonian national team midfielder Markus Poom (25) will probably remember 19th of December 2024 for the rest of his life, due to scoring a goal in the UEFA Europa Conference League away fixture against Chelsea FC.
Wearing the green and white shirt of Shamrock Rovers, Poom scored an equaliser to make it 1-1 in the 26th minute at Stamford Bridge.
The ball bounced in front of Poom, who was unmarked after a corner, and he hit the ball into the net from about 14 meters with the help of a ricochet (the goal can be seen here.) Poom celebrated with the widely-known “baby dance”, due to becoming a father on the 13th of December.
The luck of the Irish was short lived, since Marc Guiu, who scored the game’s opener, added his second in the 34th minute, regaining the Londoners the lead, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall added a third in the 40th minute, and in the third minute of stoppage time, Guiu secured his hat trick. In the second half, Marc Cucurella added a fifth, setting the final numbers onto the scoreboard. Markus Poom spent 67 minutes on the field.
The second place holders in the English Premier League, Chelsea are the frontrunners of this tournament, being the only team to win every game in the “league stage” with a goal difference of 26:5.
Winning three games, drawing two and losing one, Shamrock had already secured a place in the top 24 before the game in London. The final game was started at sixth place of the table, with a chance to finish within the first 8, who would progress straight to the round of 16. That chance slipped away, as the Dublin based team collected 11 points, sharing places 8-11, being placed 10th due to goal difference.
The home club of another Estonian national team midfielder, Kevor Palumets, HJK Helsinki were defeated 0-1 away from home against Spanish side Real Betis. Palumets did not get an opportunity off the bench, and with that, his time at HJK comes to a close, returning to his parent club Zulte Waregem in Belgium. HJK finished the UEFA Europa Conference League with four points on the 30th, not qualifying for the play offs.
Source:
https://www.ohtuleht.ee/sport/1121010/video-markus-poom-loi-chelseale-varava