Azerbaijan put Estonia under pressure in the first half hour at the A Le Coq Arena on Friday night under the hosts' goal in the first half hour. Estonian number one Karl Jakob Hein, who is currently on loan at La Liga side Real Valladolid, was called into action twice early on to deny the visitors.

However, it was Estonia who took the lead on 32 minutes. After Henri Anier (Lee Man) cleared from an Azerbaijan corner, FCI Levadia winger Ioan Yakovlev burst through the middle and beat both the last defender and hapless goalkeeper to slot the ball into an empty net.

Azerbaijan drew level in first half injury time when Qarabağ FK winger Toral Bayramov converted a spot kick after Joonas Tamm (Botev Plovdiv) had brought down Elvin Cafarguliyev (Qarabağ FK) in the penalty area.

But the visitors were not level for long. Within seconds of the restart, Estonia were back in front.

In a move that began straight from the kick-off, Yakovlev's cross in from the right was nodded on by Rocco Robert Shein (Dordrecht) into the path of Vlasi Sinjavski (Slovácko), who was in the right place at the right time to sweep it into the net and make it 2-1 before half-time.

Estonia began the second half on the front foot, but then fell back as Azerbaijan again created some dangerous chances. However, superb solo strike from 21-year-old Rocco Robert Shein on 71 minutes sealed the win and three valuable points.

For all three scorers, the goals against Azerbaijan were their first for the Estonian national team.

The victory was Estonia's third in five games under new head coach Jürgen Henn and the first in the 2024/25 Nations League campaign.

"I'm certainly happy with the result," Henn told ERR after the game. "The emotion that both the players and the crowd showed is something that we've been craving. That's the kind of emotion that people come here for and it's a good feeling."

"If in the first half it took a bit of time to adapt, then with the changes we made at the break, we got the whole team working well. The players understood their roles pretty well," said Henn.

On Monday, Estonia are in action again, when they face Sweden at the A Le Coq Arena. The last time the two sides met, Henn's team lost 0-3 in Stockholm in September.

For the Sweden game, Estonia will be without and Rocco Robert Shein, who scored the third goal against Azerbaijan, for that game, due to suspension, while defender Maksim Paskotši (Grasshoppers) is also a doubt after being forced off with an injury in the 29th minute.

"We'll have to see what the situation is with Maksim. Rocco is unfortunately out, but the rules are like that and maybe it's a good opportunity for the others to prove themselves," Henn said.

That game can be seen live on Monday evening on ETV2 here. Coverage begins at 9.30 p.m. Estonian time and kick off is at 10 p.m.

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