2018 RoPS season

The 2018 season is RoPS's 6th Veikkausliiga season since their promotion back to the top flight in 2012.

RoPS

2018 season
Chairman	Risto Niva
Manager	Toni Koskela
Stadium	Keskuskenttä
Veikkausliiga	2nd
Finnish Cup	Sixth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Lassi Lappalainen (8) All: Lassi Lappalainen (11)
Home colours Away colours
← 2017 2019 →

Squad

As of 9 August 2018

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  FIN Eerik Kantola 3 DF  NGA Taye Taiwo 4 MF  FIN Antti Okkonen (Captain) 5 DF  HAI Jems Geffrard 6 DF  FIN Juho Hyvärinen 7 MF  GEO Giorgi Gorozia 8 MF  FIN Erfan Zeneli 9 FW  FIN Vahid Hambo 10 MF  FIN Lucas Lingman 11 MF  BRA Agnaldo (on loan from Molde) 12 GK  FIN Juhani Kangas 13 DF  FIN Lassi Järvenpää 14 MF  FIN Eetu Muinonen

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  FIN Leo Väisänen 17 FW  FIN Sampo Ala 18 MF  FIN Veka Pyyny 19 FW  FIN Jarkko Luiro 20 FW  FIN Simo Roiha 22 MF  FIN Rasmus Degerman 24 FW  FIN Lassi Lappalainen (on loan from HJK) 25 GK  ESP Antonio Reguero 26 DF  JPN Fugo Segawa 30 GK  FIN Jimi Vaarala 47 DF  FIN Juuso Hämäläinen — GK  FIN Jarkko Ojaniemi

Transfers

Winter

In: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Pos. Nation Player 5 DF  HAI Jems Geffrard (from Ekenäs IF) 8 MF  POR Wato Kuaté (from Hapoel Petah Tikva) 9 FW  MKD Filip Ivanovski ( Javor Ivanjica) 11 MF  BRA Agnaldo (loan from Molde)[1] 26 DF  JPN Fugo Segawa (from PEPO)

Out: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  USA Tyler Back 2 DF  NGA Sani Kaita 5 DF  SRB Ivan Tatomirović (to IFK Mariehamn) 7 FW  CHI Mota (to Deportes Melipilla) 8 DF  NED Nathaniël Will (to SV Spakenburg) 10 FW  AZE Cem Felek (to TSV Steinbach) 11 FW  GHA Glenn Gabriel

Summer

Main article: List of Finnish football transfers summer 2018

In: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Pos. Nation Player 7 MF  GEO Giorgi Gorozia (from Hibernians)[2] 8 MF  FIN Erfan Zeneli [3] 9 FW  FIN Vahid Hambo (from SJK)[4] 87 FW  FIN Aleksandr Kokko (from Eastern)[5]

Out: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. No. Pos. Nation Player 7 MF  BRA Matheus Caliman 8 MF  POR Wato Kuaté 9 FW  MKD Filip Ivanovski 21 MF  FIN Aapo Heikkilä (to AC Oulu)

Competitions

Veikkausliiga

Main article: 2018 Veikkausliiga

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	HJK (C)	33	24	6	3	61	19	+42	78	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round[a]
2	RoPS	33	18	8	7	42	25	+17	62	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3	KuPS	33	17	7	9	56	37	+19	58
4	Honka	33	15	13	5	51	33	+18	58
5	Ilves	33	14	7	12	45	41	+4	49

Source: Veikkausliiga (in Finnish), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Play-off
(Note: Play-off is only played if need to decide champion, teams for relegation or UEFA competition and will be played on a neutral ground).
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. HJK qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
33	18	8	7	42	25	+17	62	10	2	4	20	8	+12	8	6	3	22	17	+5

Last updated: 27 October 2018.
Source: See results

Results by matchday

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H
Result	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	L	W	D	D	L	W	W	W	D	D	W	L	W	L	D	W	W	D	W	W	D	L	L	W	W	W

Updated to match(es) played on 27 October 2018. Source: See Results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

RoPS v IFK Mariehamn

8 April 2018 1	RoPS	2 – 0	IFK Mariehamn	Rovaniemi
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Lingman 53' S.Roiha 80'	Report	J.Mattsson  88'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 1,809 Referee: Atte Jussila

VPS v RoPS

14 April 2018 2	VPS	0 – 1	RoPS	Vaasa
16:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Voutilainen  57' I.Gueye  74' E.Ciss  79'	Report	Lappalainen 24'	Stadium: Hietalahti Stadium Attendance: 1,918 Referee: Mikko Leino

KuPS v RoPS

18 April 2018 3	KuPS	0 – 1	RoPS	Kuopio
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	U.Nissilä  81'	Report	Hyvärinen 90+4'	Stadium: Kuopio Football Stadium Attendance: 3,123 Referee: Ville Nevalainen

RoPS v PS Kemi

22 April 2018 4	RoPS	3 – 0	PS Kemi	Rovaniemi
16:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Lappalainen 20' Ivanovski 38' Agnaldo 56'	Report	Tano  40' V.Shevchenko  54'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,922 Referee: Mikko Leino

RoPS v Lahti

25 April 2018 5	RoPS	2 – 0	Lahti	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Agnaldo 12' Kuaté  79' Reguero  90+1' Lappalainen 90+3'	Report	Osipov  24'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 1,721 Referee: Marko Grönholm

TPS v RoPS

28 April 2018 6	TPS	0 – 0	RoPS	Turku
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	M.Tenho  45+1'	Report		Stadium: Veritas Stadion Attendance: 3,009 Referee: Jari Järvinen

RoPS v Honka

3 May 2018 7	RoPS	1 – 2	Honka	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Okkonen  20' Kuaté  41' Lappalainen 44'	Report	Kandji 76' Rahimi 90+2'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 1,973 Referee: Mohammad Al Emara

Ilves v RoPS

7 May 2018 8	Ilves	1 – 0	RoPS	Tampere
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Onduku 25' Rannankari  46' Tamminen  74' T.Siira  90+1'	Report	L.Järvenpää  82' Taiwo  90+1' Lingman  90+9'	Stadium: Tammelan Stadion Attendance: 3,190 Referee: Ville Nevalainen

RoPS v KuPS

13 May 2018 9	RoPS	2 – 0	KuPS	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	M.Pitkänen 26' (o.g.) Muinonen  89' Ivanovski 90+5'	Report	M.Töyräs  27' Karjalainen  30' Gabriel  39'  58' Toivomäki  46' Rexhepi  52' Purje  87' Matulevičius  90+7'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,934 Referee: Jari Järvinen

Lahti v RoPS

18 May 2018 10	Lahti	0 – 0	RoPS	Lahti
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)		Report		Stadium: Lahti Stadium Attendance: 2,133 Referee: Antti Munukka

Inter Turku v RoPS

26 May 2018 11	Inter Turku	3 – 3	RoPS	Turku
15:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Kuningas 33' Furuholm 50', 78' T.Varmanen  61'	Report	Ivanovski 13', 18' J.Hämäläinen  32' Väisänen  58' Kuaté  83'  88' Lingman 90+3'	Stadium: Veritas Stadion Attendance: 1,914 Referee: Mattias Gestranius

RoPS v HJK

1 June 2018 12	RoPS	1 – 2	HJK	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	L.Järvenpää 90+3'	Report	Klauss 52', 88'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 4,013 Referee: Ville Nevalainen

RoPS v VPS

12 June 2018 13	RoPS	1 – 0	VPS	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Geffrard  84' Okkonen 90+5'	Report	Meerits  90+6'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,111 Referee: Atte Jussila

IFK Mariehamn v RoPS

16 June 2018 14	IFK Mariehamn	1 – 3	RoPS	Mariehamn
19:15 EEST (UTC+3)	Kangaskolkka 2' Tatomirović  67' Maripuu  90+3'	Report	Kuaté 25' 34' Heikkilä 67' Lingman 85'	Stadium: Wiklöf Holding Arena Attendance: 1,795 Referee: Mattias Gestranius

PS Kemi v RoPS

21 June 2018 15	PS Kemi	0 – 1	RoPS	Kemi
17:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Vidjeskog  81'	Report	Okkonen  4' Ivanovski 53' 71' Hämäläinen  83'	Stadium: Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto Attendance: 3,650 Referee: Petri Viljanen

RoPS v TPS

26 June 2018 16	RoPS	0 – 0	TPS	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Roiha  64' Heikkilä  88' Lingman  90+3'	Report	Rähmönen  61' Ahde  73'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,822 Referee: Jani Laaksonen

Honka v RoPS

30 June 2018 17	Honka	2 – 2	RoPS	Tapiola
15:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Kandji 16', 84' Hervás  76'	Report	Taiwo  23' Ivanovski 40' Roiha 45+1'	Stadium: Tapiolan Urheilupuisto Attendance: 1,632 Referee: Mikko Leino

RoPS v Ilves

4 July 2018 18	RoPS	2 – 0	Ilves	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Okkonen  23' Hämäläinen  57' Kokko  67' Tanska 79' (o.g.) Lingman 88' (pen.)	Report	Tanska  87'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,850 Referee: Mattias Gestranius

SJK v RoPS

9 July 2018 19	SJK	2 – 1	RoPS	Seinäjoki
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Mero  42' Bååth 63' Laaksonen 72'	Report	Agnaldo  87' Lingman 90+4'	Stadium: OmaSP Stadion Attendance: 2,814 Referee: Ville Nevalainen

RoPS v SJK

21 July 2018 20	RoPS	1 – 0	SJK	Rovaniemi
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Hämäläinen  59' Roiha 64' 65'	Report	Hurme  34' Klinga  68'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,439 Referee: Joni Hyytiä

RoPS v Inter Turku

26 July 2018 21	RoPS	0 – 1	Inter Turku	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)		Report	Kamy 82' 85'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 3,315 Referee: Kalle Mäkinen

HJK v RoPS

4 August 2018 22	HJK	2 – 2	RoPS	Helsinki
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Annan  14' Dahlström 45' Obilor  47' Klauss 88'	Report	Taiwo 54' Hambo 81'	Stadium: Telia 5G -areena Attendance: 3,012 Referee: Jari Järvinen

RoPS v IFK Mariehamn

12 August 2018 23	RoPS	1 – 0	IFK Mariehamn	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Hambo 86'	Report	Kojola  49' Kangaskolkka  49' Maripuu  88'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,392 Referee: Atte Jussila

Lahti v RoPS

20 August 2018 24	Lahti	1 – 2	RoPS	Lahti
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Vyatkin 58' Osipov  75' Hauhia  79'	Report	Roiha 25' Zeneli 68' Gorozia  90+2'	Stadium: Lahti Stadium Attendance: 1,615 Referee: Petri Viljanen

Inter Turku v RoPS

25 August 2018 25	Inter Turku	0 – 0	RoPS	Turku
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Guevara  19' Furuholm  90+2'	Report		Stadium: Veritas Stadion Attendance: 1,680 Referee: Dennis Antamo

RoPS v Honka

31 August 2018 26	RoPS	2 – 1	Honka	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Gorozia 23' 90+5' Hambo 26' 90+3'  90+8'	Report	Rahimi 52' Kaufmann  89'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,879 Referee: Mikko Leino

PS Kemi v RoPS

14 September 2018 27	PS Kemi	0 – 2	RoPS	Kemi
17:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Kaljumäe  16' Heinolainen  65'	Report	Zeneli 8' Lappalainen 71'	Stadium: Sauvosaaren Urheilupuisto Attendance: 2,248 Referee: Ville Nevalainen

RoPS v KuPS

17 September 2018 28	RoPS	1 – 1	KuPS	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Agnaldo  42' Lappalainen 75'	Report	Karjalainen 72'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,916 Referee: Mohammad Al Emara

HJK v RoPS

21 September 2018 29	HJK	3 – 0	RoPS	Helsinki
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Pirinen  28' Klauss 30' Vertainen 56', 90+1' Jalasto  73' Patronen  87' Riski  87'	Report	Lingman  74' Geffrard  90'	Stadium: Telia 5G -areena Attendance: 4,021 Referee: Atte Jussila

RoPS v SJK

30 September 2018 30	RoPS	0 – 1	SJK	Rovaniemi
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Kokko  85'	Report	Hetemaj  12' Oliynyk 19' 26' Klinga  64' Hatakka  69' Hurme  82' Opiyo  90'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,024 Referee: Jari Järvinen

TPS v RoPS

6 October 2018 31	TPS	1 – 2	RoPS	Turku
16:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Ääritalo  42' Yateke 52'	Report	Holma 7' (o.g.)	Stadium: Veritas Stadion Attendance: 2,721 Referee: Dennis Antamo

VPS v RoPS

21 October 2018 32	VPS	1 – 2	RoPS	Vaasa
14:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Voutilainen  26' Vahtera 71' David  90+3'	Report	Agnaldo 60' (pen.) Taiwo  81' Lappalainen 89'	Stadium: Hietalahti Stadium Attendance: 1,134 Referee: Joni Hyytiä

RoPS v Ilves

27 October 2018 33	RoPS	1 – 0	Ilves	Rovaniemi
15:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Lappalainen 44' Zeneli  83'	Report	Tomas  90+2'	Stadium: Rovaniemen keskuskenttä Attendance: 2,875 Referee: Antti Munukka

Finnish Cup

Main article: 2017–18 Finnish Cup

Sixth Round

Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
KuPS	5	5	0	0	22	6	+16	15
AC Oulu	5	3	1	1	13	12	+1	10
RoPS	5	2	1	2	12	7	+5	7
AC Kajaani	5	2	0	3	10	14	−4	6
PS Kemi	5	1	1	3	6	10	−4	4
MuSa	5	0	1	4	5	19	−14	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Musan Salama v RoPS

27 January 2018 1	Musan Salama	0 – 6	RoPS	Pori
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	J.Välilä  38' R.Dieter  69' S.Mäkelä  86'	Report	Lingman 5' S.Roiha 36', 39', 62' M.Caliman 66', 82'	Stadium: Karhuhalli Referee: Petri Viljanen

RoPS v PS Kemi

2 February 2018 2	RoPS	1 – 2	PS Kemi	Kemi
18:30 EET (UTC+2)	Lappalainen 81'	Report	Tano 56' A.Isomäki 78' K.Heinolainen  90+4'	Stadium: Junkohalli Referee: Antti Leo

RoPS v AC Oulu

9 February 2018 3	RoPS	1 – 1	AC Oulu	Oulu
17:30 EET (UTC+2)	Agnaldo 39' Okkonen  78' Lingman  83'	Report	L.Nurmos  5' Soto 56' K.Koljonen  71' A.Alvarado  72'	Stadium: Heinäpään urheilukeskus Referee: Jani Laaksonen

RoPS v AC Kajaani

17 February 2018 4	RoPS	4 – 2	AC Kajaani	Rovaniemi
13:00 EET (UTC+2)	Agnaldo 2' Geffrard  22' 44' Lappalainen 29', 60'	Report	A.Nuutinen 4' Ramírez  24' 74' R.Kahelin  73'	Stadium: Ounashalli Referee: Oskari Hämäläinen

KuPS v RoPS

10 March 2018 5	KuPS	2 – 0	RoPS	Kuopio
14:00 EET (UTC+2)	Pennanen 15' I.Niskanen 65' H.Coulibaly  84' S.García  90'	Report		Stadium: Kuopio Football Stadium Referee: Jani Laaksonen

Squad statistics

As of Match played 27 October 2018

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Veikkausliiga		Finnish Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
3	DF	NGA	Taye Taiwo	33	1	33	1	0	0
4	MF	FIN	Antti Okkonen	34	1	20+9	1	5	0
5	DF	HAI	Jems Geffrard	24	1	9+11	0	4	1
6	MF	FIN	Juho Hyvärinen	21	1	14+3	1	3+1	0
7	MF	GEO	Giorgi Gorozia	13	1	7+6	1	0	0
8	MF	FIN	Erfan Zeneli	11	2	10+1	2	0	0
9	FW	FIN	Vahid Hambo	10	3	7+3	3	0	0
10	MF	FIN	Lucas Lingman	37	6	30+2	5	3+2	1
11	MF	BRA	Agnaldo	25	5	18+3	3	4	2
12	GK	FIN	Juhani Kangas	1	0	0	0	1	0
13	DF	FIN	Lassi Järvenpää	31	1	23+4	1	3+1	0
14	MF	FIN	Eetu Muinonen	27	0	20+2	0	4+1	0
15	DF	FIN	Leo Väisänen	29	0	24	0	5	0
17	FW	FIN	Sampo Ala	1	0	0	0	1	0
18	MF	FIN	Veka Pyyny	10	0	2+7	0	1	0
19	FW	FIN	Jarkko Luiro	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
20	FW	FIN	Simo Roiha	32	7	16+11	4	4+1	3
22	MF	FIN	Rasmus Degerman	7	0	2+5	0	0	0
24	FW	FIN	Lassi Lappalainen	31	11	25+1	8	5	3
25	GK	ESP	Antonio Reguero	37	0	33	0	4	0
26	DF	JPN	Fugo Segawa	11	0	2+4	0	4+1	0
47	DF	FIN	Juuso Hämäläinen	29	0	26+1	0	1+1	0
87	FW	FIN	Aleksandr Kokko	8	1	3+5	1	0	0
Players away from the club on loan:
Players who left RoPS during the season:
7	MF	BRA	Matheus Caliman	4	2	0	0	1+3	2
8	MF	POR	Wato Kuaté	18	1	17	1	1	0
9	FW	MKD	Filip Ivanovski	16	6	13+3	6	0	0
21	MF	FIN	Aapo Heikkilä	20	1	9+7	1	1+3	0

Goal scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	Veikkausliiga	Finnish Cup	Total
1	FW		24	Lassi Lappalainen	8	3	11
	FW		20	Simo Roiha	4	3	7
3	FW		9	Filip Ivanovski	6	0	6
	MF		10	Lucas Lingman	5	1	6
5	MF		11	Agnaldo	3	2	5
6	FW		9	Vahid Hambo	3	0	3
				Own goal	3	0	3
8	MF		8	Erfan Zeneli	2	0	2
	MF		7	Matheus Caliman	0	2	2
10	MF		6	Juho Hyvärinen	1	0	1
	DF		13	Lassi Järvenpää	1	0	1
	MF		4	Antti Okkonen	1	0	1
	MF		8	Wato Kuaté	1	0	1
	MF		21	Aapo Heikkilä	1	0	1
	DF		3	Taye Taiwo	1	0	1
	MF		7	Giorgi Gorozia	1	0	1
	FW		87	Aleksandr Kokko	1	0	1
	DF		5	Jems Geffrard	0	1	1
TOTALS					42	12	54

Disciplinary record

Number	Nation	Position	Name	Veikkausliiga		Finnish Cup		Total
3		DF	Taye Taiwo	3	0	0	0	3	0
4		MF	Antti Okkonen	3	0	1	0	4	0
5		DF	Jems Geffrard	1	1	1	0	2	1
6		MF	Juho Hyvärinen	1	0	0	0	1	0
7		MF	Giorgi Gorozia	2	0	0	0	2	0
8		MF	Erfan Zeneli	1	0	0	0	1	0
9		FW	Vahid Hambo	2	1	0	0	2	1
10		MF	Lucas Lingman	3	0	1	0	4	0
11		MF	Agnaldo	2	0	0	0	2	0
13		DF	Lassi Järvenpää	1	0	0	0	1	0
14		MF	Eetu Muinonen	1	0	0	0	1	0
15		DF	Leo Väisänen	1	0	0	0	1	0
20		FW	Simo Roiha	2	0	0	0	2	0
25		GK	Antonio Reguero	2	0	0	0	2	0
47		DF	Juuso Hämäläinen	4	0	0	0	4	0
87		FW	Aleksandr Kokko	2	0	0	0	2	0
Players who left RoPS during the season:
8		MF	Wato Kuaté	5	1	0	0	5	1
9		FW	Filip Ivanovski	1	0	0	0	1	0
21		MF	Aapo Heikkilä	1	0	0	0	1	0
TOTALS				37	3	3	0	40	3