Tammeka claimed a 3-1 victory over Kuressaare in the 28th round of the Meistriliiga on Saturday afternoon. The result moved the visitors further clear in fifth place while the hosts remain rooted in ninth. By then you could sense how the match would unfold once Tammeka took their second lead.
Kuressaare struck first through O. Kangaslahti in the sixteenth minute, a moment that briefly lifted the home crowd. Tammeka responded almost immediately, with E. Demidov equalising three minutes later. P. Marin then turned the game on its head before the break, slotting home in the twenty-eighth minute.
We had backed an away win before kick-off, and the confidence we placed in Tammeka held up. The visitors controlled the tempo, and when R. Silov added a fourth goal in the sixty-ninth minute, the contest was effectively settled. And here's the thing — Kuressaare never really found a rhythm after going behind.
M. Sambe picked up a yellow card in the fifty-fifth minute, a caution that arrived when the tension was rising. There were several changes in the second half, with Tammeka bringing on T. Lang and M. Hydara at the sixty-eighth minute. Kuressaari made two substitutions of their own, while Tammeka brought on Thomas Lisboa and R. Silov in the seventy-ninth minute.
The statistics tell a story of balance rather than dominance. Kuressaare recorded 104 attacks to Tammeka's 108, while possession was split nearly evenly at 47 per cent to 53. Shots on target were close — four for the hosts, five for the visitors — but Tammeka were more clinical when it mattered.
The result leaves Kuressaare on 28 points after 28 games, eight wins and four draws. Tammeka sit on 44 points from 27 matches, two points behind the leaders. To be fair, this was a performance that reflected the quality gap between the two sides this season.