- FC Sion wins 2-1 at home against FC Basel in the 7th round of the Super League.
- Mario Balotelli makes his debut, but Giovanni Sion is responsible for the winning goal.
- In the second game on Saturday evening, FC Zurich welcomes FC Lugano (live on SRF).
He was greeted with thunderous applause, the new strong man at FC Sion. Mario Balotelli, 36-time Italian international and Champions League winner, stepped onto the Valais pitch for the first time in the 65th minute. Substituting the 32-year-old remained one of the few highlights in the game between the Sitteners and FC Basel for a long time.
Only shortly before the end did the home fans enjoy another highlight. It was already the penultimate minute of regular time when Giovanni Sio scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1. The former FCB player scored from a central position after a pass from Kevin Bua.
Sion with the better start
The home team did a much better job in the Tourbillon. In the initial phase of the duel between sixth (Sion) and eighth (Basel) in the Super League, the guests were pushed far back into their own half of the pitch. Anto Grgic with a free kick (3rd) and Cleilton Itaitinga with a header (7th) came close to the Basel goal for the first time.
Filip Stojilkovic was then responsible for the opening goal. After a corner by Grgic, the 22-year-old nodded off at close range to make it 1-0 in the 17th minute. As a result, the red-blue came into play a little better, but there were few top-class chances to score.
Basel’s reaction
The start of round number 2 was also better for the people from Sitten – apparently. Because in the 55th minute, Wouter Burger headed in after a corner kick to equalize for the guests. The cross came from Fabien Frei.
Sion coach Paolo Tramezzani reacted and shortly afterwards brought in noble Joker Balotelli. The Italian delivered an unobtrusive performance but seemed to motivate his teammates with his presence alone – at least Sio, who landed the lucky punch just before the end. Thanks to their first home win since March, FC Sion is fourth in the table at least until Sunday.
Here’s how to proceed
The Valais are visiting FC St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland in a week’s time. FC Basel will continue with a home game a day later. The “Bebbis” welcome the Grasshoppers in St. Jakob-Park.