Helsinkin Jalkapalloklubi were held to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday by visiting HIFK in a Finnish Veikkausliliga match held at the Telia 5G- Arena.
The match marked the debut of Super Eagles left-back Elderson Uwa Echiejile for the Helsinki-based side following the expiration of his contract at Monaco.
The game was the fifth game of the season for the Klubi’s, who were unable to secure three points after scoring first through Akseli Pilvas with four minutes into the second-half. The visitors drew level through Tiquinho’s effort with five minutes after the hour mark.
Echiejile who signed a year contract with Helsinki with an option to extend in the winter transfer window was replaced by Ivan Tarasov in the 70th minute of the contest.
The 31-year-old who has previously represented NPFL side Bendel Insurance before making the move abroad to join Rennes in France has represented the Super Eagles in two AFCON and World Cup tournaments – winning the former tournament in 2013 with Stephen Keshi in charge of the side.
He made his debut for the Nigeria national team in 2019 and made 59 appearances for Nigeria – scoring three goals for his country.
Helsinki leads the Finnish Veikkausliliga table with 9 points accumulated from winning two games and drawing three, while their visitor – have just a point from three games played so far this season.
HJK will go away to seventh placed FC Inter in their next league game.
