Three out of three! Flora U19 complete Baltic sweep in UEFA Youth League to set up Chelsea clash
All three Baltic representatives have progressed to the next round of the UEFA Youth League after Flora Tallinn U19 secured an emphatic 4-1 away victory over HB Torshavn U19 in the Faroe Islands, completing a dominant 7-1 aggregate triumph and setting up a highly anticipated encounter with Chelsea U19.
Photo: Anna Andreas Following the successful qualification campaigns of Latvia’s SK Super Nova and Lithuania’s FK Žalgiris Vilnius, Flora became the third Baltic club to advance in the competition, ensuring a perfect record for the region in the opening round.
The Estonian side travelled to the Faroe Islands holding a commanding advantage after winning the first leg 3-0 in Tallinn last month. Despite their comfortable position, Flora showed no signs of complacency and produced another convincing performance to secure their place in the next round.
Flora opened the scoring in the 21st minute through defender Patrick Pihlak, extending their aggregate advantage to four goals. The visitors enjoyed the better of the attacking play throughout the first half but were unable to add to their lead before the interval.
However, the second half brought considerably more goals as Flora continued to dominate proceedings. In the 59th minute, Marten Kukkonen, who has regularly featured for Flora’s senior team, doubled the visitors’ advantage to 2-0, effectively putting the tie beyond HB Torshavn’s reach.
The hosts managed to pull a goal back as the second half progressed, but any hopes of mounting a comeback were quickly extinguished by an impressive contribution from the Flora bench.
Fifteen-year-old substitute Jaan Poldmag emerged as the star of the closing stages, scoring twice within a ten-minute period to complete a convincing 4-1 victory for the Estonian youngsters.
The result sealed a comprehensive 7-1 aggregate success and continued Flora’s impressive European campaign, with seven goals scored and just one conceded across the two matches.
Their reward is a prestigious two-legged tie against English giants Chelsea U19. The first leg is scheduled for October 28 in Tallinn, with the return fixture taking place in London on November 4.
