St. Gallen inflicts first defeat on FCZ

Three days after the annoying 2:3 home defeat against Lucerne after leading 2:0, the St. Gallen central defense, which had been reorganized, appeared stable again as the game progressed. Even better: This time it was the Eastern Swiss team themselves who scored several goals in the closing stages.

Captain Lukas Görtler scored the 2-1 in the 70th minute after a perfect pass from Bastien Toma. Christian Witzig, who had already scored the 1-0 in the first half, and substitute Felix Mambimbi then made things clear within 13 minutes.

Although the hosts had to accept the equalizer less than two minutes after the 1-0, the team coached by Enrico Maassen allowed few chances against the leaders from Zurich, who had been beaten for the first time in eight matches. In injury time, Zurich’s four-time goalscorer Juan Perea also received a yellow-red card.

In the 27th minute, Witzig scored with a well-placed low shot from the edge of the penalty area after a quick counterattack and cross pass from Moustapha Cissé. Almost immediately afterwards, Marchesano equalized for the visitors after a beautiful attack over several stations. The goalscorer, who scored his third league goal of the season, was also the one who initiated the attack with a fine ball control and body feint.

In the last twenty minutes, the FCSG finally lit the fireworks that made the performance in Lucerne forgotten and took the wind out of the sails of the in-form FCZ for the time being.

After seven complete rounds, FCZ shares the lead in the table with FC Luzern, who have exactly the same goal difference. Lugano also has 14 points, with St. Gallen one point behind in fourth place.