Basel win with Shaqiri comeback | August 25, 2024
Euphoria on and off the pitch in Basel: Fabio Celestini’s team celebrates its third championship victory in a row with a 2-0 win at home against Yverdon and welcomes Xherdan Shaqiri. And thanks to its first championship victory against Sion, GC gave up last place in the table to Bern’s Young Boys.
Xherdan Shaqiri (front) thanks the fans after his comeback in the FC Basel jersey after the championship match against Yverdon Sport FC.Photo: Keystone
The more than 30,000 spectators in St. Jakob-Park, which had not been this full for FCB for over a year, also came for him: returning player Xherdan Shaqiri. In the 66th minute he made his first appearance for his home club in over twelve years. He immediately made his mark with a free kick that Yverdon’s goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni had difficulty saving.
The prospects with Shaqiri and Kevin Carlos, who has also been newly signed but has not yet played, are one positive thing for FCB. The other is that things are already going well without the two top players. The last four games – three in the Super League and one in the Cup – have resulted in four wins and a goal difference of 19:0. The last time FCB had three wins in the championship was two and a half years ago.
FC Basel, which had been struggling for a long time, has woken up. The enthusiasm that had been missing for months has returned. The joy of playing is evident. Against Yverdon, the Basel team stormed forward enthusiastically for the first quarter of an hour and were rewarded with Albian Ajeti’s third goal of the season. This was preceded by a fantastic outside-of-the-foot cross from Dominik Schmid.
After that, there were ups and downs in Basel’s game, with Yverdon creating two good scoring opportunities. But the three points were no longer in danger after Bradley Fink made it 2-0 in the 55th minute – after Schmid’s assist. The goal was not without controversy, because the previous attempt by Léo Leroy to win the ball could have been disallowed.
The future now looks bright for Basel. Next Saturday they will travel to Sion before hosting FC Zurich after the international break – probably again in front of more than 30,000 spectators.
GC hands over red lantern to YB
The Grasshoppers achieved their first championship victory. Two unexpected goalscorers gave the Zurich team a 3-1 home victory against FC Sion. The Grasshoppers waited almost a month for the work permit of Lee Young-Jun, the 21-year-old South Korean striker. A few days before the fifth Super League game of the season, Lee finally received the okay and needed just 42 seconds to score in his first match for GC.
The next GC goalscorer on Saturday evening, Latvian defender Kristers Tobers, ended a nearly five-year drought without a goal at club level. A good hour and three minutes after Sion’s interim equaliser, the 23-year-old scored with a drop kick from 15 metres to make it 2-1. Tsiy Ndenge secured the win in the 90th minute.
Even if Zurich’s three goals were a bit of a coincidence, the win was deserved. GC did a lot and had good chances in addition to the moves that led to the goals. Sion offered little apart from the beautiful combination that preceded Kevin Bua’s 1:1. Thanks to the win, GC gave up last place in the table to YB.
Lucerne in a state of euphoria
FC Luzern wins for the third time in a row. Lars Villiger shines as a double goalscorer in the 3-0 home win against Winterthur. In his 50th Super League game, he showed how important he is for FCL in this still young season. The Central Swiss team showed a solid, composed performance, which the 21-year-old homegrown player enhanced with his two goals. He has now scored four league goals and one goal in the cup this season. German newcomer Sinan Karweina also had a taste of success with the 3-0 win. It was his first goal in the Super League.
After just two and a half minutes, Villiger scored the game-changing 1-0 against a harmless Winterthur team. The Swiss junior international beat Winterthur goalkeeper Markus Kuster and headed the ball past the Austrian into the net. After the break, a perfect pass from Thibault Klidjé put him in a scoring position. With a lob, he beat the Greek Stefanos Kapino, who had replaced the injured Kuster during the break.
Winterthur’s coach Ognjen Zaric will have a few things to think about in the coming days. His team made very little of the ball they had. Two chances after the break, when shots flew just wide of the post, were the best the Zurich team had to offer.
Super League, 5. Runde
On Saturday,
FC Lucerne – FC Winterthur 3:0 (1:0)
Grasshoppers Club Zürich – FC Sion 3:1 (0:0)
On Sunday,
FC Basel – Yverdon Sport FC 2:0 (1:0)
