- FC St. Gallen won 2-0 at FC Zurich in the 18th round of the Super League.
- Felix Mambimbi scored in the 33rd minute, Chadrac Akolo shortly before the end.
- In the other Sunday games, YB beat Servette at home 2-1, Lausanne won in Lugano.
Chadrac Akolo had barely arrived on the pitch when a failed shot from FCZ keeper Yanick Brecher landed in the striker’s feet via Victor Ruiz. After sprinting across half the field, the 29-year-old decided to finish despite a few passing stops. It was the right decision, Akolo confidently scored 25 seconds after coming on to make it 2-0 (88th), giving St. Gallen victory in the last Super League game of the year.
It wasn’t a stolen success, but certainly a somewhat lucky one for the Eastern Swiss team. In the second half, FC Zurich got into the game better and better, and the equalizer was in the air. But the Zurich team failed again and again because of Lawrence Ati Zigi. The goalie showed his best flying performance in the 51st minute when he parried a header from Mirlind Kryeziu.
Mambimbi stays cool
The fact that the FCZ was forced to react in a hard-fought game was due to a scene in the 33rd minute. After a tee shot from Zigi, both FCZ central defenders took a step forward at the wrong time. FCSG striker Felix Mambimbi was lurking at the back, not in an offside position, and converted a nice pass from Nati player Christian Witzig in front of Brecher to make it 1-0.
Favorite opponent from Zurich
This is how FC St. Gallen achieved their first win since November 10th. Back then, too, the Eastern Swiss won in Letzigrund, the opponents at that time were the Grasshoppers. In general, the Zurich clubs seem to be the FCSG’s favorite opponents – St. Gallen won four of the last 15 Super League games. Two against GC, two against FCZ.
For FC Zurich the year ends with another defeat. In the Super League, FCZ has been waiting for a win for 6 games and is only one point ahead of Sion in 6th place. St. Gallen is already two points behind and can still have legitimate hopes of taking part in the “Championship Group”.
This is how it continues
St. Gallen has one last competitive game in 2024: On Thursday at 9:00 p.m. the “Espen” will play in Heidenheim in the Conference League (live on SRF). The first Super League round of the new year is coming up in five weeks. FC Zurich welcomes Yverdon to Letzigrund on Sunday, January 19th. The day before, St. Gallen played host to Servette in Geneva.
Super League overview
Swiss