Sport: Ninth victory in a row for FCZ

Soccer: The FCZ gets the full number of points again

(sda) Things continue to run smoothly at FC Zurich. Thanks to goals from Antonio Marchesano, Wilfried Gnonto and Assan Ceesay, the leader celebrates a 3-0 home win against Lugano. It is FCZ’s ninth win in a row.

FC Zurich only had to tremble for the three points for a short time. Seven minutes after the break, defender Fidan Aliti caused an unnecessary penalty with a snatch at Fabio Daprelà from a corner kick. FCZ keeper Yanick Brecher parried the penalty kick, which Reto Ziegler missed, with a fine save.

It was a timely wake-up call for the leader, who had become a bit passive after Marchesano’s 1-0 lead in the first quarter of an hour. Substitute Gnonto after a quick combination over four stops and Ceesay after an ideal pass from Ousmane Doumbia made the goals 3-0 in the 64th and 66th minutes. It was Gnonto’s 6th and Ceesay’s 13th goal of the season.

Zurich passed the test against Lugano, who have often been convincing under coach Mattia Croci-Torti in recent weeks, and continued their winning streak. For the first time since the introduction of the Super League in 2003, FCZ managed to win nine games in a row in one season.

results. Saturday: Lausanne Sport – Grasshoppers 0:2 (0:1). St Gallen – Servette 5: 1 (3: 1). – Sunday: Young Boys – Basel 3: 1 (1: 1). Lucerne – Sion 1:0 (0:0). Zurich – Lugano 3: 0 (1: 0).

Ranking: 1. Zurich 21/49 (50:27). 2. Young Boys 21/39 (50:26). 3. Basel 21/37 (45:25). 4. Lugano 21/33 (27:29). 5. Servette 21/28 (34:39). 6. Grasshoppers 21/26 (35:31). 7. Ses. 21/25 (29:39). 8. St Gallen 21/23 (35:44). 9. Lucerne 21/14 (22:41). 10. Lausanne-Sport 21/12 (19:45).

Football: Borussia Dortmund is approaching Bayern again

(sda) Borussia Dortmund benefit from Bayern Munich’s misstep against Bochum on Saturday. The second in the table came within six points of the leader in the 22nd round thanks to the 3-0 away win against Union Berlin.

Marco Reus was successful twice in the first half and rewarded the superiority of Dortmund with the two Swiss Gregor Kobel and Manuel Akanji. Ten minutes before the break, Kobel prevented the Berliners from scoring with his best save. In the absence of Erling Haaland, the Portuguese Raphaël Guerreiro made the decision 3-0 in the 71st minute.

Fighting for Champions League spots, Union Berlin lost two straight league games for the first time this season after losing 2-0 to Augsburg a week ago. Urs Fischer’s team is currently tied for sixth with Leipzig and Freiburg.

Ranking: 1. Bayern Munich 22/52 (70:25). 2.Borussia Dortmund 22/46 (57:36). 3. Bayer Leverkusen 22/41 (58:36). 4. RB Leipzig 22/34 (43:27). 5 SC Freiburg 22/34 (34:25). 6. Union Berlin 22/34 (29:30). 7. 1. FC Cologne 22/32 (34:37). 8. Hoffenheim 21/31 (41:34). 9. Mainz 05 22/31 (31:24). 10. Eintracht Frankfurt 22/31 (33:34). 11. Bochum 22/28 (24:32). 12. Wolfsburg 22/27 (23:33). 13. Borussia Monchengladbach 22/26 (30:40). 14. Hertha Berlin 22/23 (24:45). 15 Arminia Bielefeld 21/22 (21:27). 16. Augsburg 22/22 (24:38). 17. VfB Stuttgart 22/18 (26:42). 18. Greuther Furth 22/13 (20:57).

Tennis: Bencic does not start in Dubai

(sda) Belinda Bencic will not start at the WTA tournament in Dubai, which begins on Monday. The Olympic champion explained in St. Petersburg this week that her lungs were not as functional as before after the corona disease in mid-December. Above all, she cannot train fully at the moment.

It could take two to three months for everything to go back to normal, the 24-year-old explained. A longer break from competition is not planned. In the matches, the problem with the lungs does not bother them. Bencic won the Dubai 2019 tournament.

Soccer: GC defeats Lausanne 2-0 – Striker Francis Momoh becomes the match winner

(fcr.) The Grasshoppers have 15 games to play this season. And after the 2-0 win in Lausanne on Saturday evening at the latest, it should be clear that the Zurich club is looking forward to a sporty, carefree, but probably not particularly exciting spring in the midfield of the Super League. The lead over ninth Lausanne is 14 points, but the European Cup places are quite far away. “As a promoted team, we’re happy with this season,” says coach Giorgio Contini, “and after two defeats at the start of the second half of the season, this win is very valuable to us.”

The young striker Francis Momoh, who scored his first goals in the Super League in his tenth appearance, became the match winner in Lausanne. The Nigerian joined the Grasshoppers in August 2019 as an 18-year-old and was in the starting line-up for the first time a week ago in the derby against Zurich (1-3). In Lausanne, Momoh scored twice in cold blood and thus refined the solid performance of the guests.

The Grasshoppers squad has changed again in recent weeks, with the addition of several Asian footballers. Chinese left-back Li Lei set up Momoh’s 2-0 lead in Lausanne shortly after coming on. However, Japanese central defender Ayumu Seko and Korean winger Sang-bin Jeong were not yet eligible to play. Due to a lack of prospects, attacker Shkelqim Demhasaj (to FC Winterthur) and attacking force Nikola Gjorgjev (to FC Schaffhausen) left the club last week, they are playing the second half of the season on loan in the Challenge League.

In the meantime, Lausanne rarely gave the impression of being seriously interested in trips into the opponent’s penalty area in a weak encounter. Ten days ago, Alain Casanova replaced the hapless Ilija Borenovic as coach, but things are not going well for the Lausanne team under the experienced Frenchman. The team lost the derby in Geneva 0-1, in the cup Lausanne lost 0-1 away against the Challenge League representative Yverdon, and Casanova’s team also remained strangely uninspired against GC.

Lausanne withdrew over long stretches and let the visitors take control of events. GC goalie André Moreira was only allowed to prove once that he was one of the best goalkeepers in the league. He reflexively deflected Zeki Amdouni’s shot over the crossbar just before the break. It remained Lausanne’s most dangerous move, which has only won one home game this season – against Grasshoppers in mid-October (3-1).

The 60-year-old Casanova is 21 years older than his predecessor Borenovic and therefore much more experienced. The former goalkeeper was on the touchline in over 300 Ligue 1 games, mostly at Toulouse FC. One could say that he at least managed to stabilize the young, heterogeneous team a little in Lausanne. However, that doesn’t help much if the weakest offensive in the Super League (19 goals in 21 matches) remains so harmless. If Lucerne doesn’t lose against Sitten at home on Sunday, Casanova will spend Valentine’s Day in last place in the table.

Lausanne – Grasshoppers 0:2 (0:1). 3025 spectators. – Goals: 28. Momoh 0-1. 67. Momoh 0-2.

St Gallen – Servette 5: 1 (3: 1). 12 960 spectators. – Gates: 2. Schalk 0:1. 4.Ruiz 1:1. 10. Guillemenot 2:1. 29. Guillemenot 3:1. 63. Schubert 4:1. 77. Schubert 5-1.

Football: Chelsea win the Club World Cup

(sda) Chelsea win the Club World Cup for the first time. The Champions League winner beat the Brazilians from Palmeiras 2-1 after extra time in the final in Abu Dhabi.

The German Kai Havertz scored the decisive goal in the 117th minute with a penalty. Palmeiras’ Raphael Veiga had previously equalized the first London lead through Romelu Lukaku (55th) with a penalty in the 64th minute.

Chelsea were in action at the Club World Cup for the second time in their history. In 2012, the English were defeated by the Corinthians, who, like Palmeiras, are based in São Paulo. It was the last time that the title did not go to the European participant.