Even in the last attacks, which gave the Basel team hope again, there was a lack of penetration against Lugano: Dominik Schmid headed a cross in the 93rd minute, but didn’t put enough force behind it and the ball flew past the post. A little later, Yusuf Demir scored from close range, but Kreshnik Hajrizi made a successful attempt.
The injury time also reflected what had happened in the previous 90 minutes: The FCB offensive simply couldn’t find a solution against the Ticino defense on this Saturday evening in St. Jakob-Park.
Steffen scores from Sabbatini’s cross
Contrary to the course of the game, Renato Steffen had given FC Lugano the lead in the 69th minute with his first shot on goal. Of all people, the ex-Basel player converted a cross from Jonathan Sabbatini, who had been given too much space, to make it 1-0. In the 86th minute, the supposed 2-0 by Zan Celar was disallowed due to offside.
Saipi-Bock remains unpunished
Highlights were few and far between in the first half. The game started intensely, and it was the in-form Benjamin Kololli who kept Basel going. However, he was denied by Lugano goalie Amir Saipi in both the 9th and 24th minutes, after which the game primarily took place between the penalty areas.
Kololli had chances after the break, but was substituted by Celestini in the 55th minute. Basel’s slack in attack reached its climax in the 65th minute when the team itself failed to take advantage of a Lugano mistake: after a bad pass from Saipi, Leon Avdullahu slipped away and was unable to capitalize on the through ball.
This is how it goes
This means that Basel has to take a setback and remains in 9th place, while Lugano has moved up to 5th place, at least for the time being. A difficult task awaits the people of Ticino next Saturday, at 8:30 p.m. they will welcome the leader from Bern (live on SRF). FCB will face FC St. Gallen at home the next day at 4:30 p.m.