FC Küssnacht: Narrow defeat in Zurich

For a long time, the FCK women put up a tough fight with FC Zurich’s U21s for every centimeter of artificial turf. Despite being behind, they never gave up and in the end they might even have gotten a point.

In the first game of the play-outs, the women of FC Küssnacht met the U21s of FC Zurich. Remo Zwyssig’s team was nominally the underdog, but the girls from Küssnacht had already stumbled a supposedly stronger opponent at one point or another this season. The last time, however, they conceded a goal in the first quarter of an hour. This time the Küssnachters were snappier and more alert in the duels at the start of the game. So it was clear it was going to be a close game.

double backlog
Initially, FCZ let Zwyssig’s team and the ball run. However, the FCK defense offered no gaps and so it was difficult for the home team to finish. The Zurich women recorded a few shots on goal, but all of them ended up in Severin Jolidon’s arms. Furthermore, the hosts determined the game in the first half, but rarely became dangerous. The Küssnachters waited for their first opportunity with lightning-fast switching and gripping counter-pressing. Instead, FCZ had their first chance: Sanja Kovacevic was able to control a cross in the Küssnacht penalty area and score to make it 1-0. The FCK women then did everything they could to keep their motivation high and intensified their offensive efforts to find an answer to the Zurich leadership. This often put them in promising positions, but then they usually acted a little too hastily. On the other hand, the women from Zurich were cold as ice in front of the box. After a set piece, the home team struck for the second time and it was 2-0 at the break

FCK keeps fighting
FCK came out of the break with momentum, put the hosts under pressure and immediately had a big chance: Silja Ulrich moved into the penalty area and put Joelle Meister in the spotlight, but she didn’t get any pressure behind the ball. In direct return, Alketa Rama ran alone towards the Küssnachter goal and wanted to do it casually, but lobbed the ball past the goal. It stayed that way, the girls from Küssnacht were persistent. Zwyssig’s team threw everything into every duel and worked defensively as a disciplined unit. FC Zurich were now far away from any goal threats, despite having a larger share of the game. In the middle of the second half, the FCK women suddenly came to terms. Joelle Meister forced guest keeper Bollmann to make a save and after the corner Iva Calouri narrowly missed the connection with a header.

But after that the Küssnachter attacks fizzled out again, and the FCZ couldn’t or didn’t want to anymore. So the game seemed to end comfortably. Until Livia Büchler sunk a beautiful flick in the corner after a counterattack with Laura Rosica. A few minutes before the end, the Küssnachters suddenly smelled their chance for a point. They threw everything forward with their last effort, but the equalizer didn’t come. Although the FCK women lost in the end, they stood up to the FCZ for long stretches of the game. If they can repeat this strong performance, there will be points in the future.

Telegram FC Zurich U21 – FC Küssnacht 2:0(2:0)
Herrenspüli, Zurich. – 50 spectators – Goals: 34. Kovacevic 1:0 41. Matsushita. 2:0 87. Büchler 2:1 – FC Zurich U21: Bollmann; Hacker, Sury, Meyer, Schefer; Matsushita, Kuqi, Ibschaj, Rexhepi, Kovacevic; Rama. (Ziegler, Markovic, Gashi) – FC Küssnacht: Jolidon, Hofstetter, Steiner, Zimmermann, Sommer; Künzli, Lourenco Ulrich, Fröiland; Master, schoolboy. (Rosica; Hongler, Calouri, Büchler, Schilliger).

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