With the goal to make it 4-1 just a minute after the start of the second half, things seemed to be over in St. Gallen’s Kybunpark. Chadrac Akolo gave Eastern Switzerland a clear lead with his third personal goal – the Congolese reacted quickest after a rebound and scored with a curling shot. Coach Peter Zeidler’s team delivered a largely convincing performance against the guests from Winterthur.
But the “Espen”, who were able to convince offensively as so often, were vulnerable defensively. Just five minutes after the 1:4, Winterthur’s Sayfallah Ltaief found himself alone in front of FCSG goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi after a wonderful pass into the interface. Ltaief stayed cool and confidently scored to make it 2-4.
The people of St. Gallen ran the risk of being cheated out of the fruits of their labor. In the 70th minute, Zigi fell the onrushing Ltaief and referee Johannes von Mandach immediately pointed to the spot. Aldin Turkes took responsibility, but was denied by the St. Gallen goalkeeper. So the two-goal lead remained, which the home team managed to confidently manage in the end.
Strong St. Gallen reaction
At the start of the game, Winterthur was able to raise eyebrows on the St. Gallen side. With the first attack, the guest from the canton of Zurich took the lead (13th). In the chaos in front of the Eastern Switzerland box, Remo Arnold tipped the ball over the line. The St. Gallen team subsequently managed a strong reaction. Within 9 minutes, the Zeidler team set the score to 3:1:
- 20th minute: Winterthur’s Yannick Schmid enables the FCSG to counterattack with a fatal bad pass. The ball comes to Akolo via Willem Geubbels, who puts the ball in the box in his second attempt.
- 22nd minute: The Winterthurians can’t clarify things clearly. Akolo takes over the play equipment in the penalty area and completes his double pack.
- 29th minute: Geubbels finds teammate Julian von Moos with a buttery cross, who scores St. Gallen’s third goal from close range.
For St. Gallen it is their seventh win in their seventh home game; the FCSG have not given up a point on home soil since May. The Eastern Swiss are still at the top of the table, while Winterthur is losing ground in the broad midfield.
This is how it continues
Due to the national team break, the two teams will not be back in action for another two weeks. Winterthur will be a guest at FC Luzern on November 25th, and St. Gallen will face FC Basel away a day later.