It could have been the lucky punch: In the 80th minute, Zurich’s Nikola Katic leaned on his own teammate Mirlind Kryeziu after a corner – his header flew just a few centimeters past the far post.
The cheers stuck in the throats of the FCZ players and most of the fans in Letzigrund. Almost ten minutes later, the uninspiring game was over.
Defense is key
It was a game characterized by defensive stability. Things only got wild shortly after the break, when first Jonathan Okita (50th) saw his low shot parried by Winterthur goalie Marvin Keller and then Matteo Di Giusto spoiled the visitors’ lead with a follow-up shot (55th).
The team of coach Patrick Frame, who celebrated his 55th birthday on Wednesday, missed out on overtaking their cantonal rivals in the table.
And: For the first time since the start of the season on July 22nd – that is, since 28 SL games – the Eulachstadt team did not score a goal in a competitive game. The FCZ, for its part, has been waiting for a threesome for exactly a month and four missions.
Zurich has the ball, Winterthur has the chances
The first half didn’t offer many highlights. Although the home team had more of the game (57 percent of ball possession and 11 shots), the guests were more dangerous: In the 9th minute, Nishan Burkart failed from almost five meters – his shot from full speed flew over the crossbar.
After almost half an hour, Adrian Durrer headed a cross from Di Giusto next to the Zurich box.
This is how it goes
Zurich travels to Geneva on Saturday and meets Servette there (8:30 p.m., live on SRF), while Winterthur welcomes FC Lugano a few hours earlier (6:00 p.m.).