Lugano suffers its first defeat in the third game of the Conference League. The Ticino team lost 1:4 to the underdog Backa Topola in northern Serbia.
Lugano's misstep against FK TSC from Backa Topola, who had previously scored no points and no goals, was not to be expected. However, the first defeat and the first goals conceded by the aspiring Swiss champions in the competition's new league system were deserved given the strength of the field in Backa Topola's small but attractive stadium. Petar Stanic and Milos Pantovic each scored twice for the home team, while Mahmoud Belhadj only briefly reduced the deficit for Lugano to 1:2.
Lugano's weak opening phase in particular proved to be their undoing. The Superliga side, who were without in-form attacker Ignacio Aliseda and otherwise rotated very little, were 0:1 down after just four minutes. The score was 0:6 after a quarter of an hour and 1:11 after 30 minutes from the visitors' perspective.
Stanic put the hosts, who were clearly the better side in the early stages, ahead after four minutes with a magnificent long-range shot into the far corner. Hicham Mahou's supposedly timely equalizer with the first chance did not count due to offside, and Belhadj's 1-2 after an hour did not last a minute.
Lugano's battle for a place in the top eight and a direct place in the round of 16 continues in three weeks' time with a home game against Gent, without Mattia Bottani, who was shown the red card after coming on as a substitute for an assault in the closing stages. The Belgians picked up their second win against Omonia Nicosia (1-0) on Thursday.
Telegram, results and standings:
Backa Topola - Lugano 4:1 (1:0)
1984 spectators. - SR Sundberg (DEN). - Goals: 4. Stanic 1:0. 59. Pantovic 2:0. 61. Belhadj 2:1. 62. Stanic (Stevanovic) 3:1. 83. Pantovic (Cirkovic) 4:1.
Backa Topola: Ilic; Jovanovic, Djordjevic, Stevanovic, Petrovic; Radin; Djakovac (72. Pejic), Stanic; Banjac (82. Sos), Pantovic (90. Mboungou), Cirkovic.
Lugano: Saipi; Brault-Guillard, Papadopoulos, Hajdari, Marques (64. Valenzuela); Grgic (82. Przybylko), Belhadj (64. Bottani); Steffen, Dos Santos (64. Bislimi), Mahou (73. Cimignani); Vladi.
Remarks: 89th red card against Bottani. Cautions: 46 for Radin (suspended for next match), 57 for Cirkovic, 58 for Belhadj, 70 for Hajdari, 70 for Jovanovic.
Other results from Thursday: Larne - St. Gallen 1:2 (1:1). 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
