Finland beat Poland to close on third

Finland beat Poland 2-0 to record their second victory in Group 4 of UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying.

Both sides were already out of contention for a play-off place prior to kick-off in Pori and it was the hosts who proved themselves the more eager to end on a high. Markku Kanerva's side prevailed courtesy of goals from Jonne Hjelm and Sebastian Mannström and could now wrest third in the section off Poland should they beat Liechtenstein and Andrzej Zamilski's side fail to defeat Spain when the pool concludes on Tuesday.

Finland took a deserved lead on 26 minutes, Hjelm converting from the spot after being felled by Michał Gliwa. Gliwa was again in the thick of it for Finland's second, parrying Teemu Pukki's shot only to be beaten on the rebound by Mannström.

"Poland pressed hard at the start of both halves and maybe we were a bit nervous," said Kanerva. "On the whole I am pleased with the win, but this was not Finland at our best. We still have Liechtenstein to play next Tuesday and that will be a different kind of challenge. Our aim is to end the qualifying campaign with another win."