Estonia Loses 1-0 to Lithuania in Euro 2016 Qualifier
Estonia had a dose of its own medicine in the second Euro 2016 qualifying group game, against Lithuania in Vilnius, losing 1-0 on a second-half goal.
Estonia had its share of luck in the previous match, a 1-0 win against Slovenia, and could have built on the great start in the qualifying tournament.
Goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko showed a lack of match experience, having lost his starting place for his club side some time ago. The Estonian team on the whole showed more confidence than usual in important games.
Both sides had chances and neither dominated, but Lithuania showed more composure in the final third and ultimately made Pareiko's mistake on the 76th minute count. Pareiko dropped the ball and the defense failed to clear, allowing Saulius Mikoliunas to head it in from close range.
Ken Kallaste was sent off for two bookings and will not play against England on Sunday.
Thursday's line-up: 1-Sergei Pareiko, 17-Enar Jääger, 3-Alo Bärengrub, 15-Ragnar Klavan, 19-Ken Kallaste, 10-Sergei Zenjov (11-Henrik Ojamaa, 64th minute), 2-Joel Lindpere (14-Konstantin Vassiljev, 77th minute), 13-Martin Vunk (7-Ats Purje, 80th minute), 18-Karol Mets, 16-Ilja Antonov, 8-Henri Anier.
On the bench: 12-Mihkel Aksalu, 22-Pavel Londak, 4-Igor Morozov, 5-Dmitri Kruglov, 20-Gert Kams, 21-Artjom Artjunin, 6-Aleksandr Dmitrijev, 11-Henrik Ojamaa, 14-Konstantin Vassiljev, 7-Ats Purje, 9-Rimo Hunt, 23-Kaimar Saag.
Lithuania also won its first game, 2-0, against group dark horse San Marino. Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia are eyeing the third spot, as Switzerland and England were favored before the qualifying pool play began to divide up the first two places. The first two teams after 10 rounds will qualify for Euro 2016, held in France, automatically, with the third place entering playoff games.
Slovenia beat Switzerland 1-0 and England defeated San Marino 5-0 at home in Thursday's other games in group E. Estonia welcomes England on Sunday for round three, while Lithuania plays Slovenia.