YB beats St. Gallen 2:0 as Fernandes red card after VAR review sparks outcry

Essende and Guirassy give YB a 2:0 win

Young Boys beat St. Gallen 2:0 at the Wankdorf on Saturday, 24 October, in the 11th round of the Super League, and for the time being cut the gap to leader Lugano to three points. The first half was slow, with YB controlling the ball without creating many clear chances. Bahereba Guirassy's shot, which Tom Gaal blocked at the last moment, stood out as the highlight of the first 45 minutes.

The breakthrough came in the 59th minute, when Samuel Essende headed in a cross from Edimilson Fernandes, his 12th goal of the season. Guirassy made it 2:0 in the 64th minute, following up after a shot had hit the post, and it was his first goal in a YB shirt.

The red card and the VAR review

Fernandes was shown a straight red card in the 78th minute after a tackle on St. Gallen captain Lukas Görtler. Referee Lukas Fähndrich had not seen a foul on the pitch, but after VAR Fedayi San reviewed the footage, he sent Fernandes off. According to watson, Fernandes struck Görtler's ankle with his trailing leg, and the defender rolled his ankle.

It was the second red card of the season for Fernandes, and Blick reports that he could face four matches of suspension instead of one. St. Gallen, who had held only 30 percent of the ball until then, pushed forward with an extra man. Cédric Zesiger cleared a chance from Okoroji off the line seven minutes before full time, denying the visitors an equaliser.

Criticism from players, pundits and referee experts

The decision drew near-unanimous criticism, with commentators on Blue and SRF calling it unbelievable, a scandal and a wrong call. Urs Meier, Blick's referee expert, described the decision as a catastrophe, and Alain Bieri said he saw no red card in the incident. Swiss international Admir Mehmedi, who has 76 caps for Switzerland, made his position clear on Blue.

“The VAR should not have intervened there, full stop! Fernandes hits him with the foot he is dragging, which is on the ground, mind you.”

Teammates were equally baffled. Christian Fassnacht said the decision was incomprehensible to him and asked what the officials had seen.

“For me it is completely inexplicable. Edi cannot dissolve his standing leg in the air.”

Samuel Essende described the incident as a natural one and called for the Swiss Football Association to intervene. He said that would be justice, because the incident was never a red card.

“That would be justice. Because it was never a red card.”

Blick argues that a red card requires some culpability, whether intent, conditional intent or negligence, and it cites UEFA as having found that such cards no longer appear in its European matches this season. Its example was the Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, where Fermin Lopez struck Wiliam Pacho in the face with his studs without any VAR intervention.

Seoane's absence and what comes next

Coach Gerardo Seoane was taken to hospital on Friday, 23 October, after feeling dizzy and unwell. Doctors diagnosed an inflammation of the balance nerve in the inner ear. The 47-year-old missed the match on the sideline, with assistant Matteo Vanetta coaching from the bench, and is expected to resume work in the week of 26 October.

Fernandes's absence could be longer. YB remain three points behind Lugano for the time being, and Lugano travel to Thun on Sunday, 25 October, with kick-off at 14:00.