2019 Meistriliiga
# 2019 Meistriliiga

The 2019 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs. The season began on 8 March 2019 and concluded on 9 November 2019. Nõmme Kalju were the defending champions. Flora won their 12th Meistriliiga title.

## Teams

Ten teams competed in the league, nine sides from the 2018 season and 2018 Esiliiga champions Maardu Linnameeskond. Vaprus were relegated at the end of the 2018 season after finishing in the bottom of the table. Maardu Linnameeskond made their Meistriliiga debut having previously declined promotion after winning the 2017 Esiliiga. Kuressaare retained their Meistriliiga spot after winning a relegation playoff against Esiliiga runners-up Elva.

### Venues

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| FCI Levadia | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,336 |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 14,336 |
| Kuressaare | Kuressaare | Kuressaare linnastaadion | 1,000 |
| Maardu Linnameeskond | Maardu | Maardu linnastaadion | 500 |
| Narva Trans | Narva | Narva Kreenholm Stadium | 1,065 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Tallinn | Hiiu Stadium | 650 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | Paide linnastaadion | 268 |
| Tallinna Kalev | Tallinn | Kalev Keskstaadion | 11,500 |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tartu Tamme Stadium | 1,500 |
| Tulevik | Viljandi | Viljandi linnastaadion | 1,084 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| FCI Levadia | Vladimir Vassiljev (caretaker) | Dmitri Kruglov | Adidas | Viimsi Keevitus |
| Flora | Jürgen Henn | Gert Kams | Nike | Tele2 |
| Kuressaare | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | Elari Valmas | Nike | Euronics |
| Maardu Linnameeskond | Mark Kolk (caretaker) | Ilja Zelentsov | Adidas | |
| Narva Trans | Oleg Kurotškin (caretaker) | Marko Meerits | Nike | Sportland |
| Nõmme Kalju | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | Igor Subbotin | Adidas | |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Andre Frolov | Nike | Verston |
| Tallinna Kalev | Aleksandr Dmitrijev | Andreas Raudsepp | Nike | Coolbet |
| Tammeka | Kaido Koppel | Tauno Tekko | Nike | Metec |
| Tulevik | Sander Post | Kaimar Saag | Joma | Espak |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tallinna Kalev | Argo Arbeiter | Signed by KTP | 8 November 2018 | Pre-season | Aleksandr Dmitrijev | 28 December 2018 |
| Narva Trans | Cenk Özcan | Mutual consent | 1 December 2018 | Pre-season | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | 4 January 2019 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Sergey Frantsev | Sacked | 25 April 2019 | 4th | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | 25 April 2019 |
| Narva Trans | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | Sacked | 29 April 2019 | 4th | Valeri Bondarenko (caretaker) | 29 April 2019 |
| Narva Trans | Valeri Bondarenko | End of caretaker spell | 1 June 2019 | 5th | Andrei Syomin | 1 June 2019 |
| Kuressaare | Jan Važinski | Mutual consent | 22 August 2019 | 7th | Dmitrijs Kalašņikovs | 22 August 2019 |
| Narva Trans | Andrei Syomin | Resigned | 23 August 2019 | 6th | Oleg Kurotškin (caretaker) | 23 August 2019 |
| FCI Levadia | Aleksandar Rogić | Mutual consent | 15 September 2019 | 2nd | Vladimir Vassiljev (caretaker) | 15 September 2019 |
| Maardu Linnameeskond | Andrei Borissov | Mutual consent | 3 October 2019 | 10th | Mark Kolk (caretaker) | 3 October 2019 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Flora (C) | 36 | 29 | 3 | 4 | 110 | 21 | +89 | 90 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | FCI Levadia | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 98 | 32 | +66 | 78 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Nõmme Kalju | 36 | 22 | 11 | 3 | 79 | 34 | +45 | 77 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Paide Linnameeskond | 36 | 23 | 5 | 8 | 78 | 30 | +48 | 74 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Tammeka | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 57 | 62 | −5 | 49 | |
| 6 | Narva Trans | 36 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 57 | 49 | +8 | 48 | |
| 7 | Tulevik | 36 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 35 | 75 | −40 | 28 | |
| 8 | Tallinna Kalev | 36 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 29 | 89 | −60 | 24 | |
| 9 | Kuressaare (O) | 36 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 24 | 87 | −63 | 23 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Maardu Linnameeskond (R) | 36 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 30 | 118 | −88 | 17 | Relegation to the Esiliiga |

### 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 2019 Esiliiga, Vaprus, for the spot in 2020 Meistriliiga.

    Kuressaare won 5–3 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2020 season.

## Results

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

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Erik Sorga | Flora | 31 |
| 2 | Nikita Andreev | FCI Levadia | 13 |
| 2 | Alassana Jatta | Paide Linnameeskond | 13 |
| 2 | Eric McWoods | Narva Trans | 13 |
| 2 | Kaimar Saag | Tulevik | 13 |
| 6 | Herol Riiberg | Flora | 12 |
| 6 | Konstantin Vassiljev | Flora | 12 |
| 8 | João Morelli | FCI Levadia | 11 |
| 8 | Sten Reinkort | Tammeka | 11 |
| 8 | Mark Oliver Roosnupp | FCI Levadia | 11 |
| 8 | Yann Michael Yao | Paide Linnameeskond | 11 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Erik $Sorga^4$ | Flora | Maardu Linnameeskond | 6–0 (H) | 7 April 2019 |
| Mark Oliver Roosnupp | FCI Levadia | Tammeka | 7–0 (H) | 11 May 2019 |
| Aleksandr Zakarlyuka | Narva Trans | Maardu Linnameeskond | 5–1 (H) | 22 May 2019 |
| Liliu | Nõmme Kalju | Maardu Linnameeskond | 6–0 (H) | 1 June 2019 |
| Kotaro Amemiya | Maardu Linnameeskond | Flora | 3–8 (H) | 15 June 2019 |
| Alassana $Jatta^5$ | Paide Linnameeskond | Kuressaare | 7–0 (H) | 19 June 2019 |
| João Morelli | FCI Levadia | Maardu Linnameeskond | 6–1 (A) | 29 June 2019 |
| Jasper Uwaegbulam | Maardu Linnameeskond | Tallinna Kalev | 4–1 (A) | 7 July 2019 |
| Eric McWoods | Narva Trans | Tulevik | 3–2 (H) | 21 July 2019 |
| Max Mata | Nõmme Kalju | Kuressaare | 7–2 (H) | 3 August 2019 |
| Erik Sorga | Flora | Kuressaare | 3–0 (A) | 13 August 2019 |
| Patrick Genro Veelma | Tammeka | Narva Trans | 6–4 (H) | 16 August 2019 |
| Indrek Ilves | Tulevik | Tammeka | 3–1 (A) | 20 October 2019 |

$^4$ Player scored four goals $^5$ Player scored five 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 | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Magnus Karofeld | Kuressaare |
| April | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Märten Kuusk | Flora |
| May | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | Nõmme Kalju | Marcelin Gando | FCI Levadia |
| June | Aleksandar Rogić | FCI Levadia | Alassana Jatta | Paide Linnameeskond |
| July | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond | Eric McWoods | Narva Trans |
| August | Kaido Koppel | Tammeka | Yann Michael Yao | Paide Linnameeskond |
| September | Jürgen Henn | Flora | Sander Sinilaid | Paide Linnameeskond |
| October | Roman Kozhukhovskyi | Nõmme Kalju | Eduard Golovljov | Narva Trans |

## Player transfers

* Winter 2018–19 – before the season
