Valmiera beat Ventspils to set up decisive clash with Leevon PPK

Valmiera strengthened their hold on second place in Latvia’s Nākotnes līga with a 3-0 home win over Ventspils. With two rounds remaining, they have 56 points, three more than Leevon PPK, who lost 2-0 to champions Metta on Saturday.

Artūrs Bērziņš opened the scoring with a header from a corner in the 11th minute. Lenny Manisa doubled Valmiera’s lead from another corner after 57 minutes, before Mahamadou Dembele finished a counter-attack into an empty net 10 minutes later.

Valmiera head coach Gatis Kalniņš was booked for protesting a decision not to award a foul on Dembele, shortly before the forward scored. Second place brings a play-off against the ninth-placed Virsliga side. Valmiera and Leevon PPK meet next week, with the hosts needing to overturn a 4-1 defeat from their first encounter. If the teams finish level on points, their head-to-head record will decide who takes second.

Source: sportacentrs.com