Latvia international Deniss Meļņiks made his Scottish Premiership debut on Saturday as Falkirk began their season with a 0-2 home defeat to St. Mirren. The 23-year-old came close to registering an assist, but Falkirk’s equaliser was ruled out following a VAR review for handball.
Having joined Falkirk as a free agent from FK Auda in June, Meļņiks was named in the starting lineup and completed the full 90 minutes in central defence.
The hosts fell behind in the 11th minute when Killian Phillips met a cross at the near post. Despite Meļņiks’ attempt to block the effort, the St. Mirren player found the net to give the visitors an early lead.
The Latvian endured another difficult moment after the break when a misplaced pass sent a St. Mirren attacker through on goal, but Falkirk’s goalkeeper came to the rescue to keep the deficit at one.
Meļņiks then came within inches of making amends. In the 70th minute, he headed a set-piece into the path of substitute Ben Parkinson, who scored with his first touch to seemingly level the match. However, after a VAR review, the goal was disallowed as the ball was judged to have struck Meļņiks’ hand following his header.
Instead of equalising, Falkirk conceded a second goal late on. After committing bodies forward for a corner, the hosts were caught on the counter-attack, and Killian Phillips completed his brace to seal a 2-0 victory for St. Mirren.
Meļņiks played the full match on his Scottish Premiership debut. Falkirk will look to bounce back next Sunday when they travel to face Motherwell.
Meanwhile in Finland, Latvian forward Nils Veinbergs came off the bench in the second half as TPS claimed a comfortable 3-0 home victory over bottom-placed Mariehamn in the Finnish Veikkausliiga.
The 19-year-old was introduced in the 65th minute with TPS already holding a three-goal advantage. It marked his fourth appearance in Finland’s top flight since joining the club on loan from fellow Veikkausliiga side Ilves.
TPS currently sit seventh in the 12-team league with 25 points. Their next challenge comes next Sunday when they travel to face reigning Finnish champions and current league leaders KuPS.
