St. Gallen secure their first win in the 3rd round of the Conference League. The team from eastern Switzerland fought back from an early deficit to win 2-1 against Northern Ireland's Larne in Belfast.
After the 2:6 fiasco at Cercle Brugge and the 2:4 against AC Fiorentina, as well as eight competitive games without a win since September 24, they managed their first success in the Conference League at the third attempt against a noticeably inferior opponent - albeit with much difficulty. Full-back Hugo Vandermersch scored the winner in the 79th minute after a long spell of dominance but little penetration in the final third, following a pass from substitute Christian Witzig.
With a sleepy start, St. Gallen, who had to make do without the ill Jozo Stanic as well as Jordi Quintillà, who was suffering from muscular problems, fell behind early against the inferior Northern Irish champions at Windsor Park in Belfast. Abdoulaye Diaby deflected a sharp cross into his own goal in the 4th minute after Chima Okoroji lost possession.
Apart from the own goal, Larne only shot at Lawrence Ati Zigi's goal once in the entire match. St. Gallen had more than 70 percent possession, but for a long time there was nothing more than Lukas Görtler's equalizer. The captain completed St. Gallen's best attack after half an hour with a perfectly struck volley. The cross came from Okoroji.
If the eastern Swiss side, who are still outside the top 24, want to put themselves in a better position to qualify for the round of 16 after their false start against Cercle Brugge (2:6) and the defeat against Fiorentina (2:4), they will have to do better in their next game. Their opponents at Kybunpark on November 28 will be the Serbs from Backa Topola, who picked up their first points on Thursday with a 4:1 win at home against Lugano.
Telegram, results and ranking:
Larne - St. Gallen 1:2 (1:1)
4448 spectators. - SR Barbara (MLT). - Goals: 4th Diaby (own goal) 1:0. 29th Görtler (Okoroji) 1:1. 79th Vandermersch (Witzig) 1:2.
Larne: Ferguson; Seary, Todd, Bolger, Want (92. Magee), Ives; Gallagher (82. Donnelly), Thomson, Sloan (75. Graham); Ryan (82. Randall), McEneff (79. Lusty).
St. Gallen: Ati Zigi; Vandermersch, Vallci, Diaby, Okoroji; Görtler, Stevanovic, Csoboth (75. Witzig); Geubbels (96. Faber), Toma (75. Konietzke), Akolo (88. Cissé).
Remarks: St. Gallen without Stanic (illness), Quintillà, Fazliji, Ambrosius, Nuhu, Karlen and Milosevic (all injured). Cautions: 37 Ives, 51 Vallci.
Other results from Thursday: TSC Backa Topola - Lugano 4:1 (1:0). Vikingur Reykjavik - Borac Banja Luka 2:0 (2:0). Petrocub Hincesti - Rapid Vienna 0:3 (0:1). HJK Helsinki - Olimpija Ljubljana 0:2 (0:0). Ghent - Omonia Nicosia 1:0 (1:0). Legia Warsaw - Dynamo Minsk 4:0 (1:0). Pafos - Astana 1:0 (0:0). Shamrock Rovers - The New Saints 2:1 (2:1). APOEL Nicosia - Fiorentina 2:1 (2:0). Chelsea - Noah Yerevan 8:0 (6:0). Djurgarden Stockholm - Panathinaikos Athens 2:1 (0:1). FC Copenhagen - Istanbul Basaksehir 2:2 (0:1). Heart of Midlothian - Heidenheim 0:2 (0:0). Jagiellionia Bialystok - Molde 3:0 (1:0). Linzer ASK - Cercle Brugge 0:0. Betis Sevilla - Celje 2:1 (0:0). Vitoria Guimarães - Mlada Boleslav 2:1 (1:0).
Ranking: 1. Chelsea 3/9 (16-3). 2. Legia Warsaw 3/9 (8-0). 3. Jagiellionia Bialystok 3/9 (7-1). 4. Rapid Vienna 3/9 (6:1). 5. Vitoria Guimarães 3/9 (7:3). 6. Heidenheim 3/9 (5-1). 7. Shamrock Rovers 3/7 (7:3). 8. Fiorentina 3/6 (7:4). 9. Olimpija Ljubljana 3/6 (5:2). 9. Pafos 3/6 (5:2). 11. Lugano 3/6 (5:4). 12. Heart of Midlothian 3/6 (4:3). 13. Ghent 3/6 (5:5). 13. Vikingur Reykjavik 3/6 (5:5). 15. Borac Banja Luka 3/4 (2:3). 16. Cercle Brugge 3/4 (7:5). 17. Djurgarden Stockholm 3/4 (5:5). 18. Betis Sevilla 3/4 (3:3). 19. APOEL Nicosia 3/4 (3-3). 20 The New Saints 3/3 (3-4). 21. Astana 3/3 (1-3). 22. Celje 3/3 (7:6). 23 Omonia Nicosia 3/3 (4-3). 24. Molde 3/3 (4:5). 25. HJK Helsinki 3/3 (1:5). 26. St. Gallen 3/3 (6:11). 27. Noah Yerevan 3/3 (2:9). 28. TSC Backa Topola 3/3 (4:5). 29. FC Copenhagen 3/2 (4:5). 30. Linzer ASK 3/2 (2:4). 31. Panathinaikos Athens 3/1 (3:7). 32. Istanbul Basaksehir 3/1 (4:9). 33. Mlada Boleslav 3/0 (1:5). 34. Dynamo Minsk 3/0 (1:7). 35 Larne 3/0 (2:9). 36. Petrocub Hincesti 3/0 (1:9).
SDA
