- St. Gallen suffered their 3rd defeat in the 5th game of the league phase in the Conference League.
- The Eastern Swiss team lost 4-1 at home to Vitoria Guimaraes.
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Lugano defeated Legia Warsaw 2-1 away.
Football can be so simple. Vitoria Guimaraes showed how easy it was in the Conference League duel with St. Gallen in the 58th minute: first a deep pass, then a flat cross into the center – and the ball was in. With Gustavo Silva making it 2-0 the vast majority in the packed Kybunpark fell silent.
Not for long, because almost eight minutes later, a cross from Hugo Vandermersch found Kevin Csoboth in the visitors’ six-yard box, who scored the 1-2 as he fell – thus finally rewarding St. Gallen’s offensive efforts on the one hand and the hope of a sense of achievement on the other revived.
No St. Gallen final fireworks
However, the hosts didn’t want to achieve anything more than the next goal – on the contrary: Alberto Baio (84th) and Samu (90th + 4) gave the Portuguese a complete success that was ultimately a little too high.
With the defeat, the air becomes increasingly rarefied for St. Gallen in the table. Coach Enrico Maassen’s team is ranked 30th with four points from five games. Only the best 24 teams qualify for the knockout rounds.
Mega opportunities for FCSG leadership
The defeat was St. Gallen is logical. However, the “Espen” would have had the chance to steer the game in a different direction – if only they were a little more efficient. After a little more than a quarter of an hour there was a fire in front of the Vitoria box:
- 16. Minute:
Christian Witzig launches Chadrac Akolo on the left, who appears alone in front of Bruno Varela and shoots from close range. The Vitoria goalie parries with a strong reflex. From an ambush, Corsin Konietzke hammers the ball over the crossbar. - 17. Minute:
Seconds later it becomes extremely dangerous again in front of the Vitoria goal. Konietzke sees his low shot parried from almost seven meters. The rebound lands at Witzig, who hits the ball into the side net.
The Maassen team paid for this excess of opportunities in the 33rd minute. After winning the ball, they went straight towards the St. Gallen box: with a straightforward passing relay, the Portuguese stormed into the opponent’s penalty area, where Joao Mendes made it 1-0 with a knee. It was the beginning of the end for the “Green and Whites”.
This is how it continues
Next Thursday St. Gallen will be playing in the Conference League in Heidenheim. It will be the 6th and final game of the league phase. Before that, the people of Eastern Switzerland are challenged in Switzerland. They travel to Letzigrund on Sunday and compete against FC Zurich (4:30 p.m.).
Conference League
Swiss
