Heated draw between St. Gallen and Zurich ++ Lausanne took second place

In a crazy game, first Limerick from St. Gallen and a little later Doumbia from Zurich fly off the field. In the end, the game ends in a 1-1 draw. Meanwhile, Lausanne took second place with a victory over Lucerne.

With a good performance in the second half, FC St. Gallen would have deserved the victory against Zurich. But the St. Gallen have to be content with a 1: 1.

The 1-1 draw ended a strange streak in the duels between Eastern Switzerland and Zurich: in the last five games of the championship, the visiting team always won.

Until well into the second half, both teams dominated their defensive play, so there weren’t very good chances to score. So the first goal of the game was literally an accident. Just before half-time, St. Gallen goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi wanted to knock the ball out of the box with a punch. He didn’t hit the ball but accidentally hit Assan Ceesay’s head. Referee Alessandro Dudic had no choice but to impose the penalty, which Benjamin Kololli confidently used a low shot.

Dudic probably would have had another option in the 67th minute. He took St. Gallen captain Jordi Quintilla off the field with a yellow and a red. The second decisive warning against the Spaniard seemed very severe. It interrupted a phase of pressure from the eastern Swiss. Shortly before, Victor Ruiz hit the post with a long shot. Goalkeeper Yanick Brecher saved Chikwubuike Adamu’s margin with a great save.

But the people of Zurich kept the hopes of the St. Gallers alive. They played very passively in most of them and allowed themselves to continue pushing their half of the field. Apparently they did not try to find the 2-0 that would be decisive. The punishment followed immediately. Substitute Kwadwo Duah, now a nine-time top scorer in this championship, scored with a deflected long shot. A little later, a man from Zurich, Ousmane Doumbia, also said goodbye with yellow and red. From that moment on, the passivity of coach Massimo Rizzo’s team became appropriate and understandable again.

Lausanne ranks second

The Vaudois posted their fifth win in the last eight games, making them one of the most successful teams in the second half of the season.

After half an hour without possibilities to score on both sides and with a slight dominance of Lucerne, the 1-0 fell from nowhere or from about 25 meters. Against Lucas Da Cunha’s Sunday shot, which hit the post, goalkeeper Marius Müller was unable to do anything despite the long distance.

This door kept impacting. The Vaudois went back up for a while, and before the break, Da Cunha rose to 2-0 after a perfect job from Toichi Suzuki.

In autumn, people wondered how coach Giorgio Contini’s team would cope with the long loss of goalkeepers Aldin Turkes through injuries and the departure of Andi Zeqiri and Dan Ndoye. Today we know the answer: a clear weakening is no longer visible. Players like Evann Guessand and Cameron Puertas are now responsible for whirlpools and goals, and 19-year-old Frenchman Lucas Da Cunha, who only played sporadically in the fall and mainly as a substitute. And also Toichi Suzuki, who signed up during winter break. The Japanese winger strengthened the team more and more during these weeks.

Lucerna came up with some good chances during the match, convinced with a powerful final offense and could have deserved a draw after the last half hour’s performance. But he stayed with substitute Ibrahima Ndiaye. Defensive play proved once again to be the evil of Central Switzerland. In the 27 games, the FCL had to accept 45 goals, more than any other team.

Telegram and ranking list

Lausanne-Sport – Lucerne 2: 1 (2: 0)

SR Schnyder. – Tearing: 31. Da Cunha (Loosli) 1: 0. 40. Da Cunha (Suzuki) 2: 0. 71. Ndiaye (Schaub) 2: 1.

Lausanne-Sport: Diaw; Loosli, Jenz, Flo; Boranijasevic, Puertas, Kukuruzovic, Suzuki (84. Nanizayamo); Da Cunha (72. Barès); Guessand (78. Bolingi), Mahou (72. Ouattara).

Lucerne: Müller; Grether (72nd Schwegler), Knezevic, Burch, Frydek; Tasar (56º Ndiaye), Ugrinic, Emini (72º Wehrmann), Alabi (56º Alounga); Schürpf, Schaub.

Observations: Lausanne-Sport without Turkes, Geissmann, Elton Monteiro, Thomas, Schmidt, Zohouri and Falk (all injured). Lucerne without Sorgic, Schulz, Ndenge, Sidler and Binous (all wounded). Warnings: 19. Jenz (foul), 30. Diaw (unsportsmanlike conduct), 37. Alabi (foul).

Sort list: 1. Young Boys 26/57 (48:21). 2. Servette 26/37 (31:33). 3. Lausanne-Sport 27/37 (38:36). 4. Lugano 26/36 (31:28). 5. Basel 26/36 (39:38). 6. Zurich 26/33 (36:38). 7. St. Gallen 26/32 (34:36). 8. Luzern 27/32 (46:45). 9. Zion 26/26 (30:40). 10. Vaduz 26/26 (24:42).