Swiss Super League matchday 3: Basel crushes Thun 4-2, Lugano routs FCZ 5-0, Sion stuns Vaduz late

Basel dismantles champion Thun 4-2

FC Basel responded to its opening-day defeat against Lausanne with a 4-2 win over reigning champion FC Thun at St. Jakob-Park, watched by 24,316 spectators. Asane Sow, a 20-year-old summer signing from Italian third-division side Pro Vercelli, delivered two goals and two assists. Sow opened the scoring in the 4th minute from a tight angle and doubled the lead in the 31st after a one-two with Léo Leroy. Zan Celar made it 3-0 in the 53rd minute with a curling finish, before substitute Xherdan Shaqiri added a fourth in the 75th. Thun's Layton Stewart pulled one back in the 73rd and Brighton Labeau scored in the 91st, but the result was never in doubt.

The defeat compounds a difficult start for Thun, who lost 0-6 to Young Boys the previous week. Coach Gian-Luca Privitelli made six changes from Thursday's 3-0 win over Vikingur Reykjavik, and the team was not competitive. Basel had lost three consecutive matches against reigning champions before this result. Stephan Lichtsteiner, under pressure at the club, was greeted indifferently by the home crowd, with some whistles when his name was announced. He demanded respect at the post-match press conference, particularly for the young players.

FCZ humiliated 5-0 in Lugano

FC Zürich suffered a 5-0 defeat at the newly opened AIL Arena against FC Lugano, leaving them with zero points and five goals conceded after two matches. Captain Lindrit Kamberi said the performance was inadequate across multiple areas, while goalkeeper Heinz Lindner described it as insufficient from start to finish and noted the team had repeatedly invited Lugano to score.

“There's not much to say. It simply wasn't good in several areas. The quality wasn't there. We didn't take on the duels, we didn't defend well. Five goals conceded is the consequence. That's not what we set out to do.”

Coach Marcel Koller made a double substitution before halftime, replacing Bledian Krasniqi and Valon Berisha with Kevin Spadanuda and Juan José Perea, a move compared to the style of Ricardo Moniz. The change had no effect, as both substitutes never properly entered the game. Koller said he had wanted to switch earlier but there was no stoppage.

“Today it wasn't enough. We have to analyze and discuss together why that is, and tackle the problems at the root. We have to get back up. A 0:5 is a real beating. All the more important now to stand close together and go full throttle in the next game.”

Sion stuns Vaduz with late turnaround

FC Sion came from behind twice to beat promoted FC Vaduz 3-2 at home, with both winning goals coming from late headers by substitutes. Vaduz led 1-0 through Julian Stark in the 5th minute and 2-1 through Marcel Monsberger in the 36th, but Donat Rrudhani equalized in the 21st with a volley in his 100th Super League appearance. Coach Didier Tholot introduced U-national forwards Winsley Boteli and Franck Surdez after 56 minutes. Boteli headed the 2-2 in the 83rd, and Surdez scored the winner deep in stoppage time in the 94th. For the 20-year-old Boteli, it was his 5th goal of the season across all competitions. For Vaduz, it was the second consecutive 2-3 defeat after surrendering a lead, following last week's loss to St. Gallen.

St. Gallen and Luzern draw 2-2

St. Gallen dropped points for the first time this season in a chaotic 2-2 draw with Luzern, who earned their first point of the campaign. Captain Görtler had an earlier equalizer disallowed before ultimately scoring to salvage a point for the home side. The match featured a turbulent finish with multiple late incidents. St. Gallen had won their opening two matches before this result.

Lugano5

Basel4

Sion3

St. Gallen2

Luzern2

Thun2

Vaduz2

Zürich0

Lugano

5 goals

Basel

4 goals

Sion

3 goals

St. Gallen

2 goals

Luzern

2 goals

Thun

2 goals

Vaduz

2 goals

Zürich

0 goals

Data from the article text