2018 Meistriliiga
# 2018 Meistriliiga

The 2018 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 28th season of the Meistriliiga, the highest division of Estonian football system. The season was scheduled to begin on 25 February 2018, but was postponed due to a cold wave. On 3 March, the season began with four out of five second round matches held in indoor arena. This marked the first time Estonian league football was played indoor. The season concluded on 10 November 2018. Flora were the defending champions. Nõmme Kalju won their 2nd Meistriliiga title completing an entire season undefeated.

## Teams

10 teams competed in the league. Sillamäe Kalev lost their Meistriliiga license due to a failure to meet their financial obligations and were relegated to the II liiga. On 4 November 2017, it was announced that FCI Tallinn would merge with Levadia.

The two clubs were replaced by 2017 Esiliiga champions Maardu Linnameeskond and runners-up Tallinna Kalev. On 18 December 2017, Kuressaare replaced Maardu Linnameeskond after the latter withdrew from the league due to financial reasons.

### Venues

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| FCI Levadia | Tallinn | Kadriorg Stadium | 5,000 |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,405 |
| Kuressaare | Kuressaare | Kuressaare linnastaadion | 1,000 |
| Narva Trans | Narva | Narva Kreenholmi Stadium | 1,065 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Tallinn | Hiiu Stadium | 650 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | Paide linnastaadion | 268 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Tallinn | Kalevi Keskstaadion | 11,500 |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tartu Tamme Stadium | 1,500 |
| Tulevik | Viljandi | Viljandi linnastaadion | 1,084 |
| Vaprus | Pärnu | Pärnu Rannastaadion | 1,501 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| FCI Levadia | Aleksandar Rogić | Dmitri Kruglov | Adidas | Viimsi Keevitus |
| Flora | Jürgen Henn | Gert Kams | Nike | Tele2 |
| Kuressaare | Jan Važinski | Sander Viira | Joma | Saaremaa Lihatööstus |
| Narva Trans | Cenk Özcan | Irié | Nike | Sportland |
| Nõmme Kalju | Sergei Frantsev | Vitali Teleš | Adidas | help.ee |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Andre Frolov | Nike | Verston |
| Tallinna Kalev | Argo Arbeiter | Hidetoshi Wakui | Nike | Coolbet |
| Tammeka | Kaido Koppel | Tauno Tekko | Nike | Metec |
| Tulevik | Sander Post | Indrek Ilves | Joma | Viljandi Aken ja Uks |
| Vaprus | Indrek Zelinski | Joosep Sarapuu | Nike | Coolbet |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Vaprus | Marko Lelov | Resigned | 5 November 2017 | Pre-season | Indrek Zelinski | 5 November 2017 |
| FCI Levadia | Igor Prins | End of contract | 5 November 2017 | Pre-season | Aleksandar Rogić | 6 November 2017 |
| Tulevik | Aivar Lillevere | Resigned | 15 November 2017 | Pre-season | Marko Kristal | 30 December 2017 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Marko Pärnpuu | Sacked | 16 November 2017 | Pre-season | Argo Arbeiter | 17 November 2017 |
| Tammeka | Mario Hansi Kaido Koppel | Mutual consent | 21 November 2017 | Pre-season | Kaido Koppel | 21 November 2017 |
| Flora | Arno Pijpers | Resigned | 13 December 2017 | Pre-season | Jürgen Henn | 5 January 2018 |
| Kuressaare | Sander Viira | Mutual consent | 19 December 2017 | Pre-season | Jan Važinski | 19 December 2017 |
| Tulevik | Marko Kristal | Mutual consent | 19 April 2018 | 9th | Sander Post | 19 April 2018 |
| Narva Trans | Adyam Kuzyaev | Resigned | 14 August 2018 | 4th | Cenk Özcan | 17 August 2018 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nõmme Kalju (C) | 36 | 25 | 11 | 0 | 114 | 32 | +82 | 86 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | FCI Levadia | 36 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 109 | 26 | +83 | 84 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Flora | 36 | 25 | 8 | 3 | 116 | 32 | +84 | 83 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Narva Trans | 36 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 76 | 57 | +19 | 61 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Paide Linnameeskond | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 64 | 74 | −10 | 51 | |
| 6 | Tammeka | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 56 | 58 | −2 | 49 | |
| 7 | Tulevik | 36 | 8 | 5 | 23 | 37 | 100 | −63 | 29 | |
| 8 | Tallinna Kalev | 36 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 54 | 68 | −14 | 28 | |
| 9 | Kuressaare (O) | 36 | 6 | 3 | 27 | 34 | 115 | −81 | 21 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Vaprus (R) | 36 | 2 | 7 | 27 | 25 | 123 | −98 | 13 | Relegation to the Esiliiga |

* ↑ Narva Trans qualified for the Europa League since they won 2018–19 Estonian Cup.

### 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 2018 Esiliiga, Elva, for the spot in 2019 Meistriliiga.

    Kuressaare won 2–0 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2019 season.

## Results

Each team played every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away. A total of 180 matches has been played, with 36 matches played by each team.

## Season statistics

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tristan $Koskor^4$ | Tammeka | Kuressaare | 4–0 (A) | 30 March 2018 |
| Roman Debelko | FCI Levadia | Tulevik | 5–0 (H) | 5 May 2018 |
| Liliu | Nõmme Kalju | Vaprus | 6–0 (A) | 5 May 2018 |
| Marcelin $Gando^4$ | FCI Levadia | Vaprus | 6–1 (H) | 26 May 2018 |
| Liliu | Nõmme Kalju | Paide Linnameeskond | 3–0 (A) | 18 August 2018 |
| Zakaria Beglarishvili | Flora | Tulevik | 3–1 (A) | 3 November 2018 |

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals

## Awards

### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| March | Sergei Frantsev | Nõmme Kalju | Roman Debelko | FCI Levadia |
| April | Aleksandar Rogić | FCI Levadia | Liliu | Nõmme Kalju |
| May | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Samson Iyede | Paide Linnameeskond |
| June/July | Sergei Frantsev | Nõmme Kalju | Madis Vihmann | Flora |
| August | Kaido Koppel | Tammeka | Gert Kams | Flora |
| September | Aleksandar Rogić | FCI Levadia | Viktor Plotnikov | Narva Trans |
| October | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Herol Riiberg | Tulevik |

### Meistriliiga Player of the Year

Zakaria Beglarishvili was named Meistriliiga Player of the Year.

### Goal of the Year

Tõnis Vihmoja's goal against Paide Linnameeskond was chosen Goal of the Year.

## Player transfers

* Winter 2017–18 – before the season
* Summer 2018 – during the season
