Switzerland conceded a third defeat in three matches in the Nations League. Beaten by Denmark and Spain, they lost 2-0 in Leskovac against Serbia. This defeat greatly jeopardizes its chances of remaining in League A.
Last in its group, now 4 points behind Serbia, it will absolutely be necessary to beat Denmark on Tuesday in St. Gallen to maintain the hope of escaping direct relegation. The Danes, who for their part ceded 1st place in the group to Spain, who beat them 1-0 in Murcia thanks to a success from Martin Zubimendi.
Nico Elvedi’s self-goal for the opener just before the break and Aleksandar Mitrovic’s almost improbable 2-0 clearly reflected the mistakes of a team which had lost its spark. Without forgetting the missed penalty from Breel Embolo in the 72nd which could have put it back on track.
Unhappy Elvedi
Despite unchallenged domination during the first twenty minutes and a golden opportunity for Breel Embolo in the 32nd minute, Switzerland was well behind at the break. This was due to sudden shifts in concentration which cost Silvan Widmer and Nico Elvedi yellow cards and led Michel Aebischer to commit an almost unnecessary foul which led to the 1-0 free kick. Kicked by Lazar Samardzic, he finished his race in the cage after an unfortunate deflection from Elvedi.
Sent off in Copenhagen, the Mönchengladbach defender is really having a difficult start to the season. Remaining on the bench throughout the Euro, he only owed his place in Leskovac to Denis Zakaria’s withdrawal. Struggling in the duels, he is indeed the weak link in a defense which definitely cannot offer the slightest cleanout to Gregor Kobel. For his 8th selection, the Zurich goalkeeper once again picked up the ball in his net at least once.
Only one possibility
But at the restart, it was he who saved the 2-0 after an error from Manuel Akanji. Kobel was able to win his duel against Luka Jovic and allow Switzerland to stay in the match. With the introduction of Fabian Rieder for Silvan Widmer to give Dan Ndoye the role of right piston, Murat Yakin took a first step to breathe new life into the team. In the 54th minute, Switzerland in turn posed the danger with a shot from Xhaka repelled by Predrag Rajkovic at the feet of Ndoye who was however offside. This was the only possibility offered to the Swiss to come back to the level of the Serbs.
Already a scorer against Switzerland in 2018 in Kaliningrad and in 2022 in Doha, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored this time just after the hour mark with a magnificent goal. The former Fulham striker first recovered a seemingly lost ball on the left to fix Akanji before unleashing an unstoppable strike.
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