Sander Alamaa was the hero as Flora Tallinn U19 beat Chelsea U19 3-2 at Cobham and advanced 5-4 on aggregate in the UEFA Youth League.
The 18-year-old winger scored twice and provided an assist in the second leg, completing an extraordinary two-match performance against one of Europe’s best-known academies.
Chelsea struck first to make it 1-0, but Alamaa responded in the 17th minute to level the match at 1-1.
The hosts regained the lead shortly after half-time to make it 2-1.
Flora answered again when Alamaa set up Marten Kukkonen for the 2-2 equaliser, before stepping up from the penalty spot in the 78th minute and scoring the goal that sent Flora through.
That gave Alamaa two goals and one assist in the return leg, with the winger directly involved in all three of Flora’s goals at Cobham.
And it came after an equally decisive first meeting in Tallinn.
In the first leg on 28 October, Alamaa scored both Flora goals in a 2-2 draw. He gave Flora an early lead with a fine finish after cutting inside from the left, before converting a second-half penalty to equalise.
Across the two legs, his numbers against Chelsea read:
4 goals
1 assist
5 goal contributions
The 5-4 aggregate victory sends Flora into the third and final round of the UEFA Youth League domestic champions path.
Before the first match, Chelsea coach Harry Hudson had spoken positively about Flora’s youth development and said his staff had studied the Estonian side carefully.
They had certainly seen Alamaa coming.
Stopping him proved rather more difficult.
SkyrScout profiled Alamaa earlier this year, highlighting his acceleration, one-v-one ability, direct running and surprisingly strong aerial game for a winger.
Against Chelsea, he delivered the kind of two-match performance that tends to get noticed.