FC St. Gallen fails in Bellinzona – Lausanne wins in Winterthur

The quarterfinal games

In the quarter-finals of the Swiss Cup there is only one encounter between Super League clubs. FC Zurich welcomes the Young Boys at the end of February. In the other games the roles are clearly assigned. The quarterfinals will take place on February 25th, 26th and 27th.

FC Zürich – Young Boys
FC Biel – FC Lugano
AC Bellinzona – Lausanne-Sport
Étoile Carouge – FC Basel​

Bellinzona – St. Gallen 1:0

St. Gallen is the only round of 16 in the Swiss Cup to fail due to a lower league team. The European Cup participant lost 0-1 in Bellinzona. Lausanne-Sport and Etoile Carouge are moving forward.

St. Gallen’s exit is surprising not only because of the difference in the league, but also because Bellinzona has been in a slump in form for weeks. The 1-0 win against St. Gallen was the Ticino team’s first win since the end of September. In between there were only four points in eight games in the Challenge League.

AC Bellinzona scored the golden goal ten minutes after the break when the ever-dangerous Rilind Nivokazi broke through in midfield and launched Caleb Chukwuemeka. He won his duel with St. Gallen keeper Lawrence Ati Zigi confidently. The hosts also had good opportunities otherwise. Nivokazi hit the post before the break and later had a good chance to make it 2-0.

What FC St. Gallen produced was shockingly little, given the distress they found themselves in after the 0-1 defeat. There could be no question of an assault towards the Bellinzona gate. Here a blocked shot, there an individual action by Christian Witzig. The bottom line is that Grünweiss didn’t show enough to earn a place in the last eight. Like last year (in the round of 16 against Delémont), St. Gallen failed due to a lower league team.

Bellinzona – St. Gallen 1:0 (0:0)
SR Fähndrich.
Tor: 55. Chukwuemeka 1:0.

Winterthur – Lausanne 0:3

Lausanne-Sport had no problems and confirmed its good form. The Vaudois won 3-0 in Winterthur. Antoine Bernede and Alvyn Sanches with his eighth goal of the season, the third in the cup, ensured a deserved and reassuring 2-0 half-time lead.

Only then did FC Winterthur perform better and had one or two chances to score before Fousseni Diabaté made things clear with Lausanne’s third goal in the 85th minute. The last duel in the championship between the two teams was won by Winterthur a month ago. It remains the only win from the last eight games for Zurich.

Winterthur – Lausanne-Sport 0:3 (0:2)
SR Dudic.
Tore: 20. Bernede 0:1. 45. Sands 0:2. 85. Diabate 0:3.

Aarau – Carouge 0:1

The only round of 16 between two clubs from the second highest league was decided by an individual action. Bruno Caslei, Etoile Carouge’s number 10, made the most of a corner in the 70th minute, received the ball perfectly out of the air, dribbled free and scored with a precise low shot. The corner was kicked by the soon-to-be 37-year-old Vincent Rüfli, who won the Cup with FC Sion in 2015.

Etoile Carouge, which is also ahead of FC Aarau in the Challenge League, is in the quarter-finals for the second time in the last 27 years. The Geneva team, coached by Adrian Ursea, returned to the Challenge League this season. They had previously played in lower leagues for twelve years.

Aarau – Etoile Carouge 0:1 (0:0)
SR Wolfensberger.
Tor: 70. Castle 0:1. (nose/sda)