FC St.Gallen suffered a heavy defeat in their first Conference League match against Cercle Brugge. Away in Belgium, the Espen lost 2:6 after a subterranean performance.
Was it a lesson? Or an opponent who surprisingly played with captain Thibo Somers, who had been declared injured the day before, and was better than expected? The fact is that Lawrence Ati Zigi had to make three saves in the first 43 minutes and three more in the second half. 0:5 shots on goal was the score at half-time from the visitors' point of view, 2:6 the final result after 90 minutes.
Three of the six goals were scored by Bruges striker Kévin Denkey. The 23-year-old Togolese, who scored 74 to 76 in his 140th game for the club and also set up two, needed two touches of the ball to make it 2-0 in the 25th minute and one to make it 3-0 in the 43rd minute. He made it 4-0 after the break from the penalty spot following a foul by Abdoulaye Diaby.
Denkey's strike partner had already made it 1:0 in the 3rd minute with a shot over the bottom edge of the crossbar - after a beautiful combination play with Denkey and exemplary ball processing before the finish. The home team's goals 5 and 6 were scored by Gary Magnée. His 5:1 was a dream goal from the corner of the penalty area, the 6:1 one with the heel after an indirect free kick.
Honorary goals from Csoboth and Mambimbi
While the hosts turned their first four good chances into three goals, St. Gallen's Willem Geubbels failed to capitalize on a promising counter-attack (9th minute) and Lukas Görtler and Chadrac Akolo missed three goals in quick succession (14th/15th/17th) when the game could still have taken a different direction.
The home team, who had started the season poorly with 17 goals conceded and 8 points from 9 games, were certainly vulnerable defensively. In front of around 1500 St. Gallen fans, Kevin Csoboth (to make it 1:4 in the 58th minute) and Felix Mambimbi (to make it 2:6 in the 81st minute) ultimately at least managed to make up for it.
If St.Gallen want to hold their own in the 36-team phase of the Conference League, coach Enrico Maassen's team will have to learn something new. Their next opponent will be AC Fiorentina at Kybunpark on October 24.
Comments on the game
The telegram
Cercle Brugge - St.Gallen 6:2 (3:0)
SR Kardesler (TUR). - Goals: 3. Minda 1:0. 25. Denkey 2:0. 43. Denkey 3:0. 54. Denkey (penalty) 4:0. 58. Csoboth 4:1. 63. Magnée 5:1. 68. Magnée 6:1. 81. Mambimbi 6:2.
Cercle Brugge: Warleson (32. Delanghe); Diakité, Ravych, Miangué; Magnée, Francis, Van der Bruggen, Nazinho (63. De Wilde); Somers (74. Brunner); Minda (61. Olaigbe), Denkey (74. Felipe Augusto).
St.Gallen: Zigi; Faber, Diaby, Vallci, Okoroji (46. Yannick); Görtler, Quintillà, Witzig; Toma (46. Csoboth); Geubbels (76. Milosevic), Akolo (61. Mambimbi).
Remarks: Cercle Brugge without Agyekum and others, St.Gallen without Fazliji, Karlen, Ruiz and Nuhu (all injured). Cautions: 21 for Görtler, 23 for Nazinho, 70 for Denkey.
The live ticker for review
Cercle Brugge
FC St.Gallen
- Alan Minda - 1:0 (3.)
- Kevin Denkey - 2:0 (25.)
- Kevin Denkey - 3:0 (43.)
- Kevin Denkey - 4:0 (54.)
- Gary Magnée - 5:1 (63.)
- Gary Magnée - 6:1 (68.)
- (58.) 4:1 - Kevin Csoboth
- (81.) 6:2 - Felix Mambimbi
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Liveticker
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Liveticker closed
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81.
Mambimbi with the second goal for St.Gallen
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67.
Magnée scores from a backpass free kick to make it 6:1
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63.
Magnée makes it 5:1 with a dream goal
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58.
Csoboth scores and sends St.Gallen a sign of life
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54.
Denkey scores a hat-trick from the spot
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43.
Denkey makes it 3:0
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25.
Denkey makes it 2:0 for Bruges
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17.
Akolo misses the equalizer
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15.
Faber clears on the line and prevents 0:2
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13.
Zigi hext and saves with a double save
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9.
Geubbels attempt on the empty goal misses
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3.
Zigi beaten - Minda gives Bruges the lead
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0.
How St.Gallen start their European adventure
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0.
The line-up of Cercle Brugge
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0.
Espen coach Maassen: "It's good for the team to know that they can win finals"
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0.
1500 fans expected: The St.Gallen supporters are ready for the away game in Bruges
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0.
FCSG play host to Cercle Brugge
For the first time since 2013, FC St.Gallen will play a match in the main draw of a European competition on Thursday. There is a chance for the eastern Swiss side at Cercle Brugge.
Cercle Brugge will be the first of six opponents for FC St.Gallen in the league phase of the reformed competition at 6.45 p.m., alongside AC Fiorentina, Northern Irish club Larne, TSC Backa Topola from Serbia, Vitoria Guimarães and Heidenheim. Of the 36 teams in the league phase, the top eight qualify directly for the round of 16. The teams in places 9 to 24 compete in play-offs, while the last twelve are eliminated.
Cercle finished 5th in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League last season. The team's start to the new season was unsuccessful; in third last place with eight points from nine games, they are currently relegated.
Cercle's mediocrity and St. Gallen's desire
For the bookmakers, the Belgians are slightly favored at the Jan Breydel Stadium, which they share with big city rivals FC Brugge. However, the Belgium legionnaire Andi Zeqiri and the former St. Gallen player Günther Nasdalla see FCSG as stronger. The 79-year-old Nasdalla, who played five years for St.Gallen and two years for Cercle in the 1970s before settling in Bruges, described his former club Cercle as "mediocre" in the "St. Galler Tagblatt". Zeqiri told "Blick" that St. Gallen were stronger than Cercle's counter-attacking team.
FCSG president Matthias Hüppi emphasized in the Blick podcast "FORZA!" that his club not only wants to be part of the European comeback after eleven years, but also wants to achieve something: "We don't want to take part just to say it was easy. I am one hundred percent sure that both the team and the coaching team will do everything they can to get points." The longing for Europe is huge in St.Gallen, the 1500 tickets for the guest sector were sold out in no time at all, according to Hüppi.
However, caution is advised with regard to Cercle striker Kévin Denkey. The Togolese international has been directly involved in 73 goals in 139 games for the club. This season, despite a poor start, the 23-year-old has five goals and one assist.
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90.+5.End of 2nd half
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81.Goal for FC St.Gallen, 6:2 through Felix Mambimbi (Kevin Csoboth)
Felix Mambimbi
Striker
Assist: Kevin Csoboth
Striker
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76.Substitution in FC St.Gallen
Jovan Milosevic
Striker
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76.Substitution out FC St.Gallen
Willem Geubbels
Striker
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75.Substitution in Cercle Brugge
Paris Brunner
Striker
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75.Substitution out Cercle Brugge
Thibo Somers
Striker
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74.Substitution in Cercle Brugge
Felipe Augusto
Midfielder
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74.Substitution out Cercle Brugge
Kevin Denkey
Striker
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69.Yellow card Cercle Brugge
Kevin Denkey
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68.Goal for Cercle Brugge, 6:1 through Gary Magnée (Kevin Denkey)
Gary Magnée
Midfielder
Assist: Kevin Denkey
Striker
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63.Goal for Cercle Brugge, 5:1 through Gary Magnée (Nils de Wilde)
Gary Magnée
Midfielder
Assist: Nils de Wilde
Midfielder
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62.Substitution in FC St.Gallen
Mihailo Stevanovic
Midfielder
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62.Substitution out FC St.Gallen
Jordi Quintillà
Midfielder
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61.Substitution in FC St.Gallen
Felix Mambimbi
Striker
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61.Substitution out FC St.Gallen
Chadrac Akolo
Striker
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61.Substitution in Cercle Brugge
Nils de Wilde
Midfielder
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61.Substitution out Cercle Brugge
Flavio Nazinho
Midfielder
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61.Substitution in Cercle Brugge
Kazeem Olaigbe
Striker
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61.Substitution out Cercle Brugge
Alan Minda
Striker
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58.Goal for FC St.Gallen, 4:1 through Kevin Csoboth (Christian Witzig)
Kevin Csoboth
Striker
Assist: Christian Witzig
Midfielder
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54.Goal for Cercle Brugge, 4:0 through penalties from Kevin Denkey
Kevin Denkey
Striker
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46.Substitution in FC St.Gallen
Kevin Csoboth
Striker
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46.Substitution out FC St.Gallen
Bastien Toma
Midfielder
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46.Substitution in FC St.Gallen
Yannick Noah
Defender
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46.Substitution out FC St.Gallen
Chima Okoroji
Defender
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46.Kick-off 2nd half
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45.+6.End of 1st half
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43.Goal for Cercle Brugge, 3:0 through Kevin Denkey (Alan Minda)
Kevin Denkey
Striker
Assist: Alan Minda
Striker
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32.Substitution in Cercle Brugge
Maxime Delanghe
Goalkeeper
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32.Substitution out Cercle Brugge
Warleson
Goalkeeper
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25.Goal for Cercle Brugge, 2:0 through Kevin Denkey (Hannes Van der Bruggen)
Kevin Denkey
Striker
Assist: Hannes Van der Bruggen
Midfielder
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23.Yellow card Cercle Brugge
Flavio Nazinho
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21.Yellow card FC St.Gallen
Lukas Görtler
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3.Goal for Cercle Brugge, 1:0 through Alan Minda (Kevin Denkey)
Alan Minda
Striker
Assist: Kevin Denkey
Striker
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1.Start of the match
