Kalev taste defeat in first leg of Conference League tie against FC Urartu
Estonian Meistriliiga side JK Tallinna Kalev lost 2-1 at home to Armenian club FC Urartu in the first leg of the first qualifying round of this season's UEFA Conference League. Kalev will still fancy their chances of overturning the deficit when they travel to Yerevan for the return match next week.
Kalev got off to a dream start on Thursday, racing into a 1-0 lead after just 11 minutes through 21-year-old midfielder Tristan Teeväli. However, 17 minutes later and their Armenian opponents had drawn level., with Edgar Movsisyan making it 1-1.
The visitors, who dominated possession and had 13 shots on target, eventually made their superiority count when Movsisyan grabbed a second on 77 minutes. With the game finishing at 1-2, Kalev are still in with a shout of making it through if they can win in the second leg.
"There is always something to take away from every game, I'm sure they'll have more quality and so we'll have to want it even more in Armenia," said Kalev defender and club president Ragnar Klavan.
"It's something we've gone through now, so that feeling is there," he said.
The Armenian club were missing some players on Thursday. Their expected return to the side will certainly make life more challenging for Kalev in the second leg.
"It won't get any easier there. We will fight until the end and we know that we are not the favorites to progress from this tie, but that doesn't mean we can't fight," the former Liverpool defender added.
As Tallinna Kalev's club president, Klavan was left with mixed emotions after the game. "Certainly the first half was sweet but now it's a little sour. At least there were emotions for the people who came here and I would like to thank all the people who helped us to make this historic game happen," he said.
Klavan said that his goal as club president is to bring more stability to the team.
"I have managed, but in the last few years, my own wellbeing has taken a back seat, in the sense that I don't play for myself, because my own ego games have already been played long ago. The aim is to provide support to the team when they need it, to get some stability. Sometimes it's hard when there's such a long gap and you haven't really been able to train. But it is what it is, I can't complain."
The second leg of Tallinna Kalev's Europa Conference League tie against FC Urartu takes place on Thursday July 18 in Yerevan. The winners will take on Banik Ostrava of Czechia in the next round.
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