- In the 30th round of the Super League, Lucerne inflicts the first defeat of the second half of the season on St. Gallen.
- Ibrahima Ndiaye scored the 3-2 winning goal in added time.
- In the late afternoon, bottom team Lausanne welcomes Lugano, Basel makes a guest appearance at FC Sion.
Once again it seemed as if the St. Gallen flight would continue: After Lucerne’s Marvin Schulz had equalized the early lead of Victor Ruiz (13th) (75th), it was Betim Fazliji, St. Gallen again in the 83rd minute took the lead.
It would have been a flattering victory for the guests, since Lucerne were equal and had created numerous chances in a highly attractive game. At least that’s how it was perceived as a performance-based draw when substitute Dejan Sorgic was able to equalize again just 3 minutes later.
But the home team wasn’t satisfied with that and kept running. With success: After a cross from Filip Ugrinic, Ibrahima Ndiaye was spot on in the 91st minute and headed in for the much-celebrated winning goal. Both jokers from FCL trainer Mario Frick stabbed. At the same time, Lucerne ended the almost uncanny series of unbeaten St. Gallen.
From false start to lightning start
The eastern Swiss had previously remained undefeated in the first 12 games of the second half of the season. Among other things, the FCSG had defeated Lucerne 3-2 about a month ago after being 0-2 behind after about 10 minutes.
The eastern Swiss wanted to avoid such a false start this time at all costs and were wide awake from the start. After just 8 (!) seconds, Jérémy Guillemenot came up with a dangerous shot that even touched the crossbar.
A lively exchange of blows then developed, with the tricky decisions going in favor of St. Gallen:
- 13 minutes: Fazliji beheads Mohamed Dräger’s hand in the penalty area – after VAR intervention, referee Sandro Schärer awarded a penalty. Victor Ruiz confidently converted to 1:0.
- 15 minutes: Marko Kvasina scores straight away and is well worth seeing to equalise. However, assist provider Asumah Abubakar was just seconds offside and the goal was correctly disallowed.
Because both teams then missed several top-class chances, the lead in St. Gallen remained narrow until the 75th minute. Then the VAR intervened in favor of Central Switzerland. This time the handball sinner was called Matej Maglica. Schulz ran, saw his first attempt from FCSG keeper Lawrence Ati Zigi, but then scored in the margin.
It should be the prelude to a spectacular final phase, which culminated in Lucerne’s winning goal in injury time.
This is how it goes
Both Lucerne and St. Gallen are in action in the cup semifinals on Thursday. The eastern Swiss compete at Yverdon from the Challenge League, Lucerne travels to Lugano in Ticino. FCSG welcomes Lugano in the Liga next Sunday, Lucerne is a guest at FC Basel.