2020 Meistriliiga

The 2020 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons[1]) was the 30th season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs. The season began on 6 March 2020,[2] but was suspended after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The league continued on 19 May 2020.[4] The season concluded on 6 December, with the last match between Flora and FCI Levadia cancelled due to COVID-19 cases in both teams.[5] The defending champions Flora successfully defended their title, winning second title in a row and their 13th in total.[6]

Meistriliiga
Season2020
Dates6 March – 8 March
19 May – 6 December
ChampionsFlora
13th title
RelegatedTallinna Kalev
Champions LeagueFlora
Europa Conference LeaguePaide Linnameeskond
Matches played147
Goals scored442 (3.01 per match)
Top goalscorerRauno Sappinen
(26 goals)
Biggest home winTulevik 5–0 Kuressaare
(7 June 2020)
Biggest away winKalev 1–8 Paide
(7 March 2020)
Highest scoringPaide 7–4 Nõmme Kalju
(6 December 2020)
← 2019
2021 →

Teams

Ten teams competed in the league, nine sides from the 2019 season and 2019 Esiliiga champions TJK Legion. Legion made their debut in the top tier after consecutive promotions from fourth tier in three seasons.[7] Maardu Linnameeskond were relegated at the end of the 2019 season after finishing in the bottom of the table. Kuressaare retained their Meistriliiga spot after winning a relegation play-off against Esiliiga runners-up Vaprus.[8]

Venues
Locations of the 2020 Meistriliiga teams
Team Location Stadium Capacity
FCI Levadia Tallinn A. Le Coq Arena 14,336[9]
Flora
Kuressaare Kuressaare Kuressaare linnastaadion 1,000[10]
TJK Legion Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 5,000[11]
Narva Trans Narva Narva Kreenholm Stadium 1,065[12]
Nõmme Kalju Tallinn Hiiu Stadium 650[13]
Paide Linnameeskond Paide Paide linnastaadion 268[14]
Tallinna Kalev Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium 5,000[11]
Tammeka Tartu Tartu Tamme Stadium 1,500[15]
Tulevik Viljandi Viljandi linnastaadion 1,084[16]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
FCI Levadia Vladimir Vassiljev Dmitri Kruglov Adidas Viimsi Keevitus
Flora Jürgen Henn Konstantin Vassiljev Nike Tele2
Kuressaare Roman Kozhukhovskyi Märten Pajunurm Nike
TJK Legion Denis Belov Denis Vnukov Uhlsport
Narva Trans Oleg Kurotškin Roman Nesterovski Nike Sportland
Nõmme Kalju Marko Kristal Igor Subbotin Adidas Paf[17]
Paide Linnameeskond Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Andre Frolov Nike Verston
Tallinna Kalev Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs Marek Kaljumäe Macron Coolbet
Tammeka Kaido Koppel Tauno Tekko Nike Metec
Tulevik Sander Post Kaimar Saag Joma Espak[18]

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
FCI Levadia Vladimir Vassiljev Caretaker spell over 11 November 2019[19] Pre-season Martin Reim 11 November 2019[19]
Narva Trans Oleg Kurotškin Caretaker spell over 15 November 2019[20] Cenk Özcan 15 November 2019[20]
Nõmme Kalju Roman Kozhukhovskyi End of contract 28 November 2019[21] Marko Kristal 2 December 2019[22]
Kuressaare Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs End of contract 16 December 2019[23] Roman Kozhukhovskyi 16 December 2019[23]
Tallinna Kalev Aleksandr Dmitrijev Mutual consent 18 March 2020[24] 10th Liivo Leetma 18 March 2020[24]
Narva Trans Cenk Özcan Mutual consent 19 June 2010[25] 10th Oleg Kurotškin 19 June 2010[25]
Levadia Martin Reim Resigned 10 July 2020[26] 3rd Vladimir Vassiljev 10 July 2020[26]
Tallinna Kalev Liivo Leetma Sacked 31 August 2020[27] 10th Dmitrijs Kalašnikovs 31 August 2020[27]

Format changes

Due to the long pause, the season was shortened. Instead of the regular format of each team playing each of the other teams four times, the league were to be splitted after the third playthrough into two sections of top 6 and bottom 4, with each team playing each other in that section.[28]

On 7 November, due to the second wave of COVID-19, the season was shortened even more with the league splitted into three sections after the 27th round – top 4, 5th & 6th, and bottom 4, with each team playing each other in that section.[29]

On 11 December the season's last match between Flora and FCI Levadia was cancelled.[5]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Flora (C) 29 26 2 1 76 17 +59 80 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Paide Linnameeskond 30 21 1 8 80 43 +37 64 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3 FCI Levadia 29 17 6 6 66 37 +29 57
4 Nõmme Kalju 30 14 7 9 52 31 +21 49
5 Tammeka 28 8 8 12 33 44 −11 32
6 Tulevik 28 9 4 15 30 46 −16 31
7 TJK Legion 30 8 7 15 26 44 −18 31
8 Narva Trans 30 6 7 17 31 49 −18 25
9 Kuressaare (O) 30 5 9 16 28 63 −35 24 Qualification for the Relegation play-offs
10 Tallinna Kalev (R) 30 5 5 20 20 68 −48 20 Relegation to the Esiliiga
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian), UEFA
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Less matches awarded against; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Matches won; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Away goals scored; 9) Fairplay ranking.[30]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.

Relegation play-offs

At season's end Kuressaare, the ninth place club, participated in a two-legged play-off with the runners-up (of independent teams) of the 2020 Esiliiga, Maardu Linnameeskond, for the spot in 2021 Meistriliiga.

10 December 2020 Maardu Linnameeskond 3–5 Kuressaare Maardu
18:00 (UTC+2) Anton Aristov  23'
Maksim Krivošein  44'
Ilja Zelentsov  47'		 Report Märten Pajunurm  8'
Sander Laht  11'
Sören Kaldma  61'
Michael Schjønning-Larsen  64'
Rasmus Saar  81'		 Stadium: Maardu kunstmuruväljak
Referee: Kristo Külljastinen
13 December 2020 Kuressaare 4–2 Maardu Linnameeskond Kuressaare
13:00 (UTC+2) Sten Penzev  32'
Mattias Männilaan  59', 81'
Sander Laht  78'		 Report Vladislav Ogorodnik  7'
Vadim Aksjonov  86'		 Stadium: Kuressaare kunstmurustaadion
Referee: Karl Koppel
Kuressaare won 9–5 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2021 season.

Fixtures and results

A total of four rounds was be played. In the first three rounds teams played each other three times. In the fourth round the league was splited into 3 groups – top 4, 5th and 6th, and bottom 4, where they played each team in their group one more time.[31]

Rounds 1–18
Home \ Away FLO PAI LEV NÕM TAM TUL LEG TRA KUR KLV
Flora — 3–1 4–0 2–1 0–0 3–0 3–1 3–1 3–0 3–0
Paide Linnameeskond 1–3 — 4–2 1–3 3–0 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 4–0
FCI Levadia 1–3 4–1 — 1–1 2–2 5–1 4–0 3–0 1–0 4–0
Nõmme Kalju 1–2 0–1 2–0 — 1–1 0–0 1–2 3–0 1–0 2–0
Tammeka 1–3 0–2 1–1 0–2 — 2–1 1–3 2–2 1–2 0–2
Tulevik 2–1 1–3 1–3 0–6 2–0 — 0–2 0–1 5–0 2–1
TJK Legion 1–3 0–3 0–2 0–6 0–1 0–2 — 0–0 1–1 0–0
Narva Trans 2–3 1–0 4–4 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 — 1–0 0–0
Kuressaare 0–4 0–4 2–2 0–2 2–4 3–0 0–0 3–2 — 2–2
Tallinna Kalev 0–3 1–8 0–4 0–4 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 —
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Rounds 19–27
Home \ Away FLO PAI LEV NÕM TAM TUL LEG TRA KUR KLV
Flora — 1–0 — 0–0 — 2–1 1–0 — — —
Paide Linnameeskond — — 1–0 — 3–1 — — 4–2 6–2 4–1
FCI Levadia 0–2 — — 2–1 3–2 2–0 — — — 3–0
Nõmme Kalju — 1–3 — — — 0–0 1–1 2–1 — —
Tammeka 0–1 — — 0–0 — — — 0–0 4–2 —
Tulevik — 1–4 — 0–1 0–1 — 0–0 — 1–1 —
TJK Legion — 0–2 1–2 — 3–1 — — 2–1 — 2–0
Narva Trans 1–2 — 1–2 — — 0–1 — — 0–0 —
Kuressaare 0–4 — 1–5 1–1 — — 2–2 — — 0–1
Tallinna Kalev 1–4 — — 1–4 1–2 1–0 — 4–1 — —
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top four rounds 28–30
Home \ Away FLO LEV NÕM PAI
Flora — Cancelled — —
FCI Levadia — — — 2–2
Nõmme Kalju 0–3 0–2 — —
Paide Linnameeskond 1–7 — 7–4 —
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fifth & sixth round 28
Home \ Away TAM TUL
Tammeka — 3–3
Tulevik — —
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom four rounds 28–30
Home \ Away KUR LEG TRA KLV
Kuressaare — — 0–3 —
TJK Legion 0–1 — — —
Narva Trans — 1–3 — 1–1
Tallinna Kalev 1–1 0–2 — —
Source: Estonian Football Association (in Estonian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals[32]
1 Rauno SappinenFlora26
2 Edrisa LubegaPaide Linnameeskond14
3 Tristan KoskorTammeka12
4 Marcelin GandoFCI Levadia11
5 Henri AnierPaide Linnameeskond10
Deabeas Owusu-SekyerePaide Linnameeskond
Konstantin VassiljevFlora
8 Vladyslav KhomutovNõmme Kalju9
Yuriy KolomoyetsFCI Levadia
Siim LutsPaide Linnameeskond
Pavel MarinTulevik
Edgar TurPaide Linnameeskond
Aleksandr VolkovNõmme Kalju

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Joseph SalistePaide LinnameeskondTallinna Kalev8–1 (A)7 March 2020[33]
Kaspar PaurNõmme KaljuTulevik6–0 (A)31 May 2020[34]
Edgar TurPaide LinnameeskondKuressaare6–2 (H)1 November 2020[35]
Rauno SappinenFloraPaide Linnameeskond7–1 (A)29 November 2020[36]

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
ManagerClub PlayerClub
May[37] Martin ReimLevadia Pedro VictorNõmme Kalju
June[38] Jürgen HennFlora Pavel MarinTulevik
July[39] Jürgen HennFlora Amir NatkhoNõmme Kalju
August[40] Vjatšeslav ZahovaikoPaide Linnameeskond Märten KuuskFlora
September[41] Denis BelovLegion Sergei MošnikovPaide Linnameeskond
October[42] Kaido KoppelTammeka Brent LepistuFCI Levadia

Team of the season

Source:[43]

Position Player Club Previous Appearances
GK Matvei IgonenFlora2019, 2016
DF Michael LilanderFloranone
DF Karl MöölPaide2019, 2017
DF Märten KuuskFlora2019
DF Muhammed SannehPaidenone
MF Sergei MošnikovPaide2016, 2014, 2013, 2011
MF Konstantin VassiljevFlora2019, 2006
MF Vladislav Kreida Flora2019
MF Pavel MarinTuleviknone
FW Rauno SappinenFlora2017, 2015
FW Henri AnierPaidenone

Player transfers

See also

References

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  2. "Eesti 2020. a jalgpalli meistrivõistluste Premium ja Esiliigade juhend" (PDF) (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  3. "Valitsus kuulutas Eestis välja eriolukorra, kõik jalgpallivõistlused tühistatud kuni 1. maini". Estonian Football Association. 13 March 2020.
  4. Kangur, Kristjan Jaak (14 May 2020). "Ametlik kinnitus: Premium liiga võib uuel nädalal alustada (Esimesed mängud teisipäeval!)". soccernet.ee.
  5. "Premium liiga hooaeg on läbi, karikatseremoonia toimub eraldi". soccernet.ee. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
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  8. "VAATA JÄRELE: Kuressaare ei lubanud Vaprus end üllatada ja kindlustas koha järgmise aasta Premium liigas (galerii)". soccernet.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 23 November 2019.
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  27. "AMETLIK: Kalev loobus Leetma teenetest". soccernet.ee. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
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  31. "Premium liiga jätkub teisipäeval uue formaadiga". Estonian Football Association. 14 May 2020.
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  38. "Premium liiga juunikuu parimateks osutusid Henn ja Marin" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 7 July 2020.
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  40. "Premium liiga kuu parimateks valiti Kuusk ja Zahovaiko" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 16 September 2020.
  41. "Premium liiga kuu parimate auhinnad teenisid Mošnikov ja Belov" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 23 October 2020.
  42. "Premium liiga kuu parimate auhinnad teenisid Lepistu ja Koppel" (in Estonian). Estonian Football Association. 4 November 2020.
  43. "Fännide lemmik 2020 - Rauno Sappinen (milline sai sümboolne koosseis?)". Soccernet.ee. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
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