The 104th Tallinn derby between FCI Levadia and FC Flora Tallinn featured high emotions, a charged atmosphere, and even a red card; however, it ended in a goalless 0-0 draw. Despite being a man up for nearly 30 minutes, Levadia could not capitalize on their advantage.
Before this match, defending champions Levadia had started the new season with a perfect record, winning all six of their opening games in the league. Under head coach Curro Torres, the team secured victories against Harju JK Laagri, Tartu JK Tammeka, Pärnu Vaprus, Nõmme Kalju, Narva Trans, and most recently Kuressaare, with a decisive goal in the third minute of stoppage time.
FC Flora, a 15-time Estonian champion, collected 13 points under their new head coach, Konstantin Vassiljev. After an initial draw with Trans and a loss to Vaprus, they have since celebrated four consecutive victories against Kalev, Kuressaare, Kalju, and Tammeka.
Historically, Levadia has been more successful in Estonia’s biggest derby, winning 42 out of 103 matches. Flora has secured 31 wins, while 30 matches have ended in a draw.
Curro Torres significantly changed the starting lineup from the previous game, introducing six new players, while Konstantin Vassiljev did not alter his starting eleven from the last match.
In a goalless first half, Levadia had the best chance when Joao Pedro was one-on-one with the goalkeeper after a misstep from Marko Lukka, but Evert Grünvald’s brilliant save kept Flora in the game.
At the start of the second half, Levadia came close to scoring again when Richie Musaba took a shot from ten meters out, but once more, Grünvald made an outstanding save. In the 61st minute, Marco Lukka received a red card for kicking Michael Schjønning-Larsen while he was on the ground, leaving Flora with ten men against the defending champions.
Shortly thereafter, Flora got a lucky break when firstly Levadia’s Musaba failed to convert a header from just a few meters away, and Enock Otoo’s long-range shot narrowly missed the target. Despite Levadia’s continued pressure and attempts to score, the match ended without any goals in the 104th Tallinn derby.
Levadia finally dropped points in the league but still maintains the top position with 19 points, just one point ahead of Paide Linnameeskond. Flora currently sits in third place with 14 points.
FCI Levadia vs FC Flora Tallinn – 0:0 (0:0)
Goals:
Yellow Card: Roosnupp 27′, Peetson 29′, Alexandre 44′, Schjonning-Larsen 62′, Pedro 90+6′ | Lukka 46′, Grunvald 90′ Red Card: Lukka 61′
LEV: Vallner – Tur, Peetson, Lepistu, Schjonning-Larsen – Alexandre (Mavretic 75′), Ainsalu – Pedro, Musaba (Bah 83′), Roosnupp (Otoo 64′) – Tambedou (Gero 64′)
FLO: Grunvald – Hussar, Kolobov, Tougjas, Tovstik – Lukka – Kuraksin (Zenjov 73′), Kalimullin (Teevali 63′), Poom, Mihhailov – Sappinen (Kaares 90+1′)
| # | Club | GP | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1 | FCI Levadia | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 22 |
| 2 | FC Flora | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 20 |
| 3 | Paide | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 18 |
| 4 | Nõmme Kalju | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| 5 | Narva Trans | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| 6 | Harju JK | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | -9 | 10 |
| 7 | Pärnu Vaprus | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Tammeka Tartu | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -10 | 7 |
| 9 | FC Kuressaare | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | -11 | 6 |
| 10 | Tallinna Kalev | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -24 | 4 |