Lugano goes to Turkey with a draw

In the third “home game” of the current European Cup qualification in the Stockhorn Arena in Thun, Lugano twice made up for a deficit. Renato Steffen and the Brazilian Gabriel Paulista, among others, converted a 1:3 deficit into a 3:3 draw within six minutes with an own goal.

Gedson Fernandes scored twice for the visitors – the first time to make it 1-0 after 20 minutes with the first shot on Lugano’s goal, the second time at the start of the second half to make it 2-1 after an exemplary pass from Rafa Silva. Shortly afterwards, Moatasem Al-Musrati increased the lead to 3-1 after a corner.

When the score was 0-1, a slightly deflected shot into the near corner, Lugano’s goalkeeper Amir Saipi didn’t look good and defended Antonios Papadopoulos a little too passively. 13 minutes later, Uran Bislimi equalized after an attack with tiki-taka vibes. His 1-1 came at the end of a passing sequence over 17 stations.

If you ignore the two-goal deficit, Lugano was poorly served with the 3:3 result. The Ticino team were at least on par with the Turkish cup winners, who strengthened their team with the Italian striker Ciro Immobile in the summer. Renato Steffen’s offensive actions and technical skills in particular stood out.

Nevertheless, the task next Thursday in Istanbul will be very delicate: from 18 games in Turkey, the Swiss clubs have only won two European Cups. Lugano was responsible for one of these victories against Besiktas – last season in the group stage of the Conference League (3:2 after 0:2 thanks to three goals after the 80th minute).

St. Gallen with goalless draw thanks to Zigi’s saves

St. Gallen missed the chance to take the lead with a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Conference League at home against Trabzonspor. The Eastern Swiss team were inferior for a long time, but in the end they came closer to the lucky punch.

It was only at the very end that the 16,291 spectators became very emotional. Willem Geubbels scored what appeared to be St. Gallen’s winning goal in the 87th minute after a corner. However, after studying the video, the referee disallowed the goal, much to the dismay of the home fans, on the grounds that the Frenchman had leaned on his opponent when he headed the ball.

In injury time, substitute Kevin Csoboth missed the lucky punch again. The Hungarian’s shot narrowly missed the goal. This meant that St. Gallen remained without a goal for the first time in this European Cup campaign and since the failed start to the championship (0:1 in Winterthur).

The fact that Trabzonspor also failed to score was mainly due to Lawrence Ati Zigi. The favored Turks created numerous great chances, but the St. Gallen goalie thwarted them all.

Servette loses first leg at Chelsea 0:2

Servette goes into the second leg of the Conference League playoff against Chelsea with a two-goal deficit. The Genevans lose 2-0 in London after conceding two goals in the second half.

Chelsea did not cover themselves in glory in the match against Servette. In order to gain a two-goal cushion against the Swiss Cup winners, who on paper were clearly inferior in the first leg in front of their own fans, the English billionaire team needed a penalty to open the game. Christopher Nkunku from the penalty spot and Noni Madueke scored the goals.

Ultimately, it was individual class that made the difference. After 50 minutes, former Leipzig player Nkunku forced a penalty-worthy foul from Jérémy Frick with a quick start and scored safely from eleven meters. Substitute Argentinian world champion Enzo Fernandez set up the 2-0 with a perfect pass.

Overall, Servette held up well against Chelsea. Coach Thomas Häberli’s team must be criticized for not taking advantage of their own chances to score against the careless Londoners. Jérémy Guillemenot and Tiemoko Ouattara, who had come off the bench, missed three opportunities after the 80th minute alone. Ouattara’s powerful shot hit the crossbar.