Haka beat SJK Academy 2-0 in the Ykkösliga Group Stage on Thursday evening. The home side took the lead through a penalty and sealed the result late on, moving further clear of the relegation zone while SJK Academy remain rooted to the bottom half.
O. Whyte converted a spot-kick in the fourteenth minute. It was the only goal of the first half and Haka carried that advantage into the break. To be fair, the visitors had more of the ball but Haka looked sharper in the final third. T. Ali Abubakar added a second in the eighty-first minute, and by then the contest was effectively over.
SJK Academy dominated possession at 54 per cent and registered 87 attacks to Haka's 52. They won five corners to three and had more throw-ins, but their shooting was less decisive. Six shots on target yielded nothing, while Haka's eight on target produced two goals. By then the visitors were chasing the game rather than controlling it.
Haka's yellow card came late through O. Raiski in the sixty-eighth minute, a sign of frustration rather than anything more. The hosts made fewer substitutions overall and kept their shape, while SJK Academy brought on three players in the eighty-fourth minute, desperate for a response. They picked up two bookings in five minutes across the full ninety.
The result leaves Haka third on 40 points after 21 games, with 12 wins and four draws. SJK Academy sit tenth with just 12 points from two victories. The gap between them is now 28 points, and Haka hold the tie in their own hands when it comes to avoiding trouble. This was not a spectacle, but it was a professional performance from the hosts who knew how to manage the game.