TALLINN — FC Levadia Tallinn needed a miracle to advance — that didn’t happen, but the squad at least performed stronger against Turkish opponents Galatasaray at Tallinn’s A. le Coq Arena last night. The game ended up a 1-1 draw for the return leg of the UEFA Europa League final qualifying round, and the result was not good enough to see the Estonians progress in the tournament, losing 6-1 on aggregate.

In front of a home crowd and against a depleted Galatasaray side Levadia Tallinn looked much more at ease. The first half was a topsy-turvy affair, with both teams having a number of opportunities without producing anything from them. 50 minutes were already up on the clock before Eino Puri scored to put the home side in front 1-0. Soon after things were back on even terms when Shabani Nonda scored for the visitors. The exchange of goals seemed to wake the Turks, who went on to control the remainder of the game.

In the end the undoing of the Estonians was the poor away performance last week, which meant they came into last night’s match truly on the back-foot. However, they will take some heart from the 1-1 draw and will be looking at putting in a similar performance when they return to domestic action to face FC Flora Sunday.