FC Zurich loses the lead in the Super League table. It went down 4-1 in the top match in Lugano.
The Zurich team experienced an afternoon to forget in Ticino. The downfall was all the more painful as nothing initially pointed to it. The dethroned leaders managed a strong opening quarter of an hour, from which they emerged with a 1:0 lead. However, Mounir Chouiar's goal remained FCZ's last positive action for a long time as they had to endure the last half hour with ten men. Top scorer Juan Perea committed an assault on Albian Hajdari with the score at 1:4.
Perea's elbow strike to the back of his opponent's neck reflected the frustration that had built up for the visitors in the preceding minutes. The match was already lost in the second quarter of an hour, in which Lugano embarrassed the FCZ defense every minute. Almost every pass behind the defense in that phase resulted in a scoring chance. Renato Steffen (22'), Anto Grgic via penalty (25') and Shkelqim Vladi (30') profited from this with their goals from 0:1 to 3:1.
The bill for the chaos in the Zurich defense caused by the Luganesi with their strong, surprising passes into the deep could have been even higher. One of the Ticino side's goals was disallowed and FCZ keeper Yanick Brecher once won the direct duel against Vladi.
The Zurich side were unable to get back into the game, even though coach Ricardo Moniz made three changes at the break in an attempt to turn the game around. Just five minutes after the break, Steffen scored his sixth goal of the season to make it 4:1, and when the visitors' offense once again proved dangerous, Perea brought the upswing to an abrupt halt with his assault. FCZ have a lot to make up for next Saturday in the derby against GC.
Telegram and table:
Lugano - Zurich 4:1 (3:1)
SR San. - Goals: 9. Chouiar (Kryeziu) 0:1. 22. Steffen (Grgic) 1:1. 26. Grgic (penalty) 2:1. 30. Vladi (Doumbia) 3:1. 50. Steffen 4:1.
Lugano: Saipi; Zanotti (76. Mai), Papadopoulos, Hajdari, Martim Marques (65. Valenzuela); Doumbia, Grgic; Steffen (76. Cimignani), Daniel Dos Santos (76. Macek), Bottani; Vladi (81. Przybylko).
Zurich: Brecher; Gómez, Katic, Kryeziu (69. Kamberi), Tosic (46. Ligue); Mathew, Krasniqi; Rodrigo Conceição (46. Emmanuel), Chouiar (78. Coulibaly), Oko-Flex (46. Ballet); Perea.
Remarks: 62nd red card against Perea (assault). Cautions: 8th Papadopoulos, 25th Gómez, 26th Chouiar, 58th Kryeziu, 67th Hajdari.
The other matches of the 15th round. Saturday: Grasshoppers - Winterthur 1:1 (0:0). Luzern - Young Boys 1:1 (0:1). Lausanne-Sport - Sion 1:0 (0:0). - Sunday: St. Gallen - Yverdon 16.30. Basel - Servette 16.30.
1. Lugano 15/28 (25:16). 2. Zurich 15/26 (23:19). 3. Basel 14/25 (35:15). 4. Servette 14/25 (23:21). 5. Lucerne 15/23 (27:23). 6. Lausanne-Sport 15/23 (23:20). 7. St. Gallen 14/20 (25:19). 8. Sion 15/17 (18:19). 9. Young Boys 15/17 (19:24). 10. Yverdon 14/15 (15:25). 11. Winterthur 15/12 (11:32). 12. Grasshoppers 15/10 (14:25).
SDA
