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Sportland Arena. JK Tallinna Kalev U21 faced newly promoted Nõmme Kalju FC U21 in the closure of Esiliiga 2025 Matchday 1. The game ended with a 1-2 win for the away team.

JK Tallinna Kalev U21 finished as 7th placed team in the previous Esiliiga season (2024), after an exciting final game. Nõmme Kalju FC U21 on the away side, is a new ‘challenger’ in the Estonian second division, as finishing runner-up in the Esiliiga B back in last season.

JK Tallinna Kalev U21, under its coach Ats Purje, started the clash in 4-3-3 formation, which was often changed to 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-3-2 shapes out of possession. They often had to face tough physical challenges both in the midfield and in the final third; in the last periods of the game, their offensive play turned to be quite convincing and promising, which resulted in a consolation goal.

Nõmme Kalju FC U21, led by coach Erik Šteinberg, also operated with 4-3-3 as the starting formation, often switching it to a 4-4-2 ‘diamond’ shape (out of possession), with several player’s positional changes. In the first 15 minutes, they demonstrated relevant dominance in terms of ball possession; important periods of the play were under the team’s control.

In this article we will flag only one player per team who ‘stood out’ in this match (if you are interested in finding out about the other talents in this game you can buy our full match report):

Dylan Sal-Al-Saller (JK Tallinna Kalev U21), defensive midfielder born 2007.

Dylan is a talented defensive midfielder of the team who represents high level of creativity with awareness. Has good vision and playmaking abilities, which were fairly advantageous in building up from the deep, as well as in supporting the teammates in the final third. His presence was also significant in terms of the team’s defensive play. Even-minded player, shows high potential.

(Check out this previous article from the JK Tallinna Kalev U21 match vs Viimsi JK played in last season, to read my conclusions on Dylan.)

Tiago Baptista (Nõmme Kalju FC U21), striker/winger born 2006.

Tiago is new face in the club, recently arrived from one of his homeland’s teams, S.C. Braga (U19). Started the match as a mobile striker but also played in the right midfielder/right winger positions. Represented good level of bravery and confidence, which were mixed with his liveliness; made several promising efforts from various spots – has scored the leading goal in the 49th minute (0-1).

If you wish to buy the full report of this match please feel free to reach out via our ‘Contact us’ page.

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