Estonia's Flora Tallinn U-19s draw 2-2 at home with Chelsea youth side
In the first leg of the UEFA Youth League second qualifying round, a youth football competition, Flora Tallinn's U-19 team drew 2-2 at home with Chelsea's youth side from England. The visitors finished the match with nine players.
The U-19 team of Estonian football club Flora Tallinn drew 2-2 on Wednesday at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn against the youth side of Chelsea, the London club from England's Premier League. It was the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition. The return leg will be played in London next Wednesday, November 4, and will decide which team advances.
How the match unfolded
Flora midfielder Sander Alamaa opened the scoring in the fourth minute. A quarter of an hour later Chelsea striker Jashayde Greenwood levelled, and shortly before half-time Chizaram Ezenwata put the visitors ahead.
In the second half Chelsea lost a player when center-back Dante Waite was sent off in the 55th minute. In the 89th minute midfielder Isaac Silva collected a second yellow card, leaving the visitors with nine men. Flora had equalized on 60 minutes, when Alamaa converted a penalty won by left-back Karel Isok.
Player comments
Alamaa told ERR after the match that the team had identified before kickoff that Chelsea were vulnerable on the counter-attack. On the first goal, he said he got a good run at the center-back and took his chance. On the penalty, he said he was not sure it was deserved, but it was awarded to Flora. He saw the goalkeeper dive one way and calmly placed the ball in the other corner.
Alamaa acknowledged that the difference in level with players from a Premier League club's academy could be felt. He described them as technically very high-quality, with midfielders who played some unbelievable passes. But if Flora approach duels the way they did in this match, he said, "we can take down anyone."
