Paide secured a narrow victory over Kuressaare, winning 1:0 in the Meistriliiga's 21st round on Sunday. The result keeps the hosts third in the table while Kuressaare remain ninth. It was not a match decided by dominance in the opening half, but by a single moment late on.
M. P. Sohna found the net in the 90th minute and three seconds, the only goal of the game. By then the visitors had already shown they would not make this easy, though their attempts on target amounted to nothing. The goal came after a series of substitutions that shifted the balance.
Kuressaare played the second half a man down in spirit if not in numbers, with D. Andreas picking up a yellow card in the 60th minute before being replaced himself two minutes later. Paide brought on Victor Hugo at 61 minutes and doubled their changes at 72, when S. Sinilaid and K. Piht arrived together. The hosts ground out the win when they had to, rather than through sustained pressure.
The statistics tell a straightforward story. Paide held 65 per cent possession and registered 144 attacks compared to Kuressaare's 70. They managed one shot on target against none from the visitors, who offered zero attempts on goal all afternoon. Many shots with one goal means chances went begging, and here Kuressaare had no chances at all.
The table now shows Paide with 45 points from 26 games, eight ahead of fourth place and four behind leaders. Kuressaare sit 28 points from 27 matches, a gap that opens further if they cannot respond. This was a result that mattered more for momentum than mathematics.