Flora Tallinn's Champions League hopes dashed after Ferencváros defeat
Estonian champions Flora Tallinn lost 1-2 on Wednesday in their UEFA Women's Champions League first qualifying round semi-final tie against Hungarian side Ferencváros. Flora now face Latvian champions SFK Riga on Saturday, though their hopes of progressing to round two are over.
Estonian champions Flora Tallinn got off to a disastrous start in Hungary on Wednesday, when Ferencváros' American midfielder Jadyn Grace Edwards gave her side the lead after just 36 seconds. However, the Estonians quickly fought back and quickly drew level thanks to a Mari-Liis Lillemäe strike on five minutes.
The Hungarian side, who included Estonian midfielder Vlada Kubassova in their ranks, were awarded a penalty mid-way through the first half. Edwards stepped up only to see her spot-kick expertly saved by Flora's 18-year-old goalkeeper Katarina Elisabeth Käpa.
The scores remained level until the 62nd minute when Edwards scored her second goal of the evening, to make it 2-1. Despite going down to ten players when Vanessza Nagy was sent off, the home side held on for the final eleven minutes to secure victory.
The game between Ferencváros and Flora was the first of two semi-finals being held in Budapest on Wednesday. In the second, Ukrainian women's champions Vorskla Poltava defeated Latvia's SFK Riga 5-0.
Ferencváros will now face Vorskla Poltava in Saturday's final, with the winner of that tie going on to round two of the UEFA Women's Champions League. Joining them will be the winners of 10 other similar mini-tournaments, along with AS Roma, Slavia Prague and Hammarby, who qualified for round two automatically.
Flora face face Latvian champions SFK Riga SFK on Saturday, September 7 in a battle to determine who finishes third in the mini-tournament.
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Editor: Henrik Laever, Michael Cole