Shaqiri with a hat-trick gives Basel victory against Servette

Servette, like anyone in the Super League, was warned. There are some gifts that should not be given to Xherdan Shaqiri. Freedom in the last thirty meters and – perhaps even more – well-placed free kicks, even penalties. And since the Grenat let the former international playmaker benefit from these three opportunities, they lost 3-1 at Parc Saint-Jacques on Sunday, with a hat-trick from “Shaq”.

Basel at the top of the championship

Second gift at the end of regulation time: a penalty stupidly conceded by Gaël Ondoua on a foul on Léo Leroy. If Jérémy Frick repelled Shaqiri’s attempt, he let the ball drag in front of him, which benefited the Basel number 10.

Third gift in the wake of the 2-1: following a loss of the Servetti ball, the Basel transition left Shaqiri alone to finish the opportunity and deceive Frick a third time. Enough to send Basel to the top of the championship, tied on points with Lugano.

However, this outcome appears very severe for Servette. The Garnets had the right to blame themselves. Particularly because they had conceded very few real chances in the first period, except for this long transition for Traoré at the very start of the match, whose shot was able to be stopped by Jérémy Frick.

But also because they had created the best opportunities before the break. There was this header from Dereck Kutesa released by Marvin Hitz, following a cross from Stevanovic (8th), or this shot from Timothé Cognat, after a delivery from Guillemenot, also stopped by the Basel goalkeeper (19th). Guillemenot also had a header that was way too centered shortly after.

Because this FC Basel may have seemed in great shape before the match, nothing ensured that it was unplayable, beyond Shaqiri’s strokes of genius. Servette also showed this, by not presenting himself at Saint-Jacques as an expiatory victim.

Cognat, sole Servetti scorer

And when the Genevans were aggressive at midfield, they recovered a lot of balls, to carry out actions which sometimes lacked spontaneity. Which was certainly not the case in the 55th minute, when the combination on the left side led to a cross from Magnin, very maliciously followed by Guillemenot to allow Cognat to equalize.

Deserved, at this moment. And undoubtedly the Genevans could have gone ahead, given the situations for Cognat, Ondoua and Simbakoli. But Servette doesn’t have Shaqiri for strokes of genius. It weighs, all the same.