- The Young Boys win a spectacular cup semifinal against Basel 4:2.
- YB takes a 2-0 lead in St. Jakob-Park early on, but FCB are far from being beaten.
- The in-form Cedric Itten excels as a double goalscorer.
- In the cup final, the Bernese meet either Servette or Lugano.
This cup semi-final was not a copy of the championship game, no. The Young Boys didn’t play as superior as they did 3-0 16 days ago, Basel kept up much better at home – the result was a spectacular classic that more than lived up to the title of “early cup final”.
However, the Bernese kept the better end to themselves. They owe this to their efficiency and their quick switching game, which has distinguished the leader throughout the season. The decisive scenes took place between the 57th and 68th minute.
Basel, at this point 0:2 behind, started the second half much better and pressed for the goal. After YB goalie Anthony Racioppi was able to save miraculously on the line, he was powerless a few minutes later after a deflected shot by Darian Males (57th).
After the 2:1, however, the guests woke up again and found their way back to their game. Thanks to a double strike within 5 minutes, they increased to 4:1 and thus brought about the preliminary decision for the final:
- First, Cedric Itten completed one of the few YB attacks in this phase with a bone-dry shot to make it 3-1 (63rd).
- A little later, YB used an ice-cold liberation by Lewin Blum to make it 4:1 (68th), Meschack Elia sprinted across the pitch and sank easily.
In the person of Dan Ndoye, FCB reduced the deficit to 2:4 (70th minute), but the home team couldn’t do more than that. Controversial penalty scenes for Basel were not called and YB didn’t let his performance sag as much as it did right after the break.
Early 2-0 lead for YB
The most parallels to the championship duel about 2 weeks ago were found in the starting phase of the semi-finals. Early on, FCB goalie Marwin Hitz touched the fast YB striker Elia after a long ball. Elijah fell and the referee pointed to the point. Itten, who scored the hat-trick goal in the last direct duel, converted effortlessly to make it 1-0 in the 3rd minute.
In the first quarter of an hour, Hitz had to get behind him a second time. After another quick advance from the guests, the ball found its way to Fabian Rieder. The 21-year-old national player was very alone at the edge of the penalty area and easily scored the 2-0.
Despite the bad start against the strong Super League leader, Basel didn’t hang their heads, but used them to create their own chances. They had the top two chances from corner kicks, but both Zeki Amdouni and Kasim Adams went just wide with a header (12’/18′).
YB then shifted down a gear and no longer played as actively as in the furious start phase. Conditionally, that took revenge after the break. The Bernese faltered but didn’t fall – they were unbeaten in the 13th classic in a row.
Final on June 4th
This gives the designated champion the chance to win the third double in the club’s history on June 4th in Wankdorf. Who YB will meet in the final will be decided on Wednesday evening. From 8:15 p.m. (live on SRF Zwei) Servette and Lugano will meet and decide the 2nd final ticket among themselves.