The Grasshoppers missed out on their first win since the end of September by a few minutes. On the debut of new coach Tomas Oral, the Zurich club conceded a late 1-1 draw against Winterthur.
Four days after appointing Tomas Oral as their new coach and hopeful in the relegation battle, the Grasshoppers did not play like a bottom club. The hosts were remarkably courageous on the offensive in the Letzigrund. Even if they occasionally lost the thread, they regularly created scoring chances. When Nikolas Muci scored his third goal of the season in the 78th minute, GC had long since earned this advantage.
However, GC still had to pay for their inadequate exploitation of chances with two points. At the back, FC Winterthur goalkeeper Stefanos Kapino often stood in the way of the superior Hoppers. Up front, it was Remo Arnold who unexpectedly scored a point for the visitors in the 91st minute and thus ensured the status quo at the bottom of the table. Winterthur remain two points ahead of the Grasshoppers.
Even though GC's situation has not improved and their winless streak has grown to seven games, Oral's team showed a promising face. The energy and will were right. Winterthur will have to watch out for these Grasshoppers in the long-distance duel. FCW's one point was not completely undeserved. They came very close to making it 1-0 in the 67th minute when Nishan Burkart missed a penalty.
Telegram:
Grasshoppers - Winterthur 1:1 (0:0)
SR Kanagasingam. - Goals: 78. Muci (Schmitz) 1:0. 91. Arnold (Burkart) 1:1.
Grasshoppers: Hammel; Schmitz, Paskotsi, Seko, Persson; Morandi, Abrashi, Ndenge; Maurin (73. Muci), Lee Young-Jun (89. Asumah Abubakar), Kittel (89. Schürpf).
Winterthur: Kapino; Stillhart, Lekaj (87. Schneider), Mühl, Schättin (86. Zuffi); Frei, Arnold; Burkart, Di Giusto (64. Durrer), Lukembila (87. Fofana); Baroan (64. Bajrami).
Remarks: 67. Hammel saves penalty from Burkart. Cautions: 32nd Morandi, 33rd Schmitz, 34th Maurin, 38th Schättin, 65th Seko, 65th Kittel, 76th Frei, 76th Durrer, 80th Arnold.
SDA
