St. Gallen beat Lugano 5-0 after early red card, ending Super League leader's run

An early red card changes the match

Lugano's afternoon turned in the 11th minute. Albian Ajeti was shown a straight red card after a foul on Hugo Vandermersch, catching the St. Gallen player on the shin with the sole of his boot. Referee Sven Wolfensberger acted at once, and Lugano were a man down for the rest of the match. In the 26th minute goalkeeper and captain David von Ballmoos went off injured, with Felix Gebhardt coming on in his place. Yellow cards went to Von Ballmoos, Daniel Dos Santos and Karimow for Lugano, and to Tom Gaal for St. Gallen. Attendance was 17,868.

Three goals before the break

St. Gallen needed a short spell to make their extra man count, but then they took control, using the space well and pressing Lugano high, according to 20 Minuten. Chima Okoroji opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, finishing with a flat shot into the far corner after a pass from Lukas Daschner. Andrin Hunziker doubled the lead in the 34th minute after a mistake by Lugano, and Tom Gaal made it 3-0 with a header from a set piece in first-half stoppage time. Gebhardt was beaten three times before the interval. Hunziker also missed an open goal before the break, so the margin could have been larger. SRF reported that Lugano's Lukas Mai brought down Hunziker inside the penalty area in the 43rd minute, but no penalty was given.

Second half and Lugano's first defeat

Lugano steadied somewhat after the interval, but their defence no longer held. Lugano made substitutions in the 65th minute, with Karimow and Alioski coming on. Hunziker struck again in the 66th minute, a flat shot from roughly 16 metres after a pass from Okoroji. St. Gallen needed a touch of luck only when a Joel Bichsel shot hit the post. Substitute Leon Frokaj completed the scoring in the 84th minute, set up by Ruiz. Over their previous twelve league matches Lugano had conceded only ten goals. This was their first defeat of the season in 24 competitive matches across league, cup and European fixtures.

Table position and what comes next

Lugano remain top of the Super League after the 13th round, six points ahead of YB and eight ahead of Sion. Coach Mattia Croci-Torti's side had been playing a heavy schedule of league, cup and European matches before this defeat. The league pauses for the international break, after which St. Gallen travel to FCZ and Lugano host Grasshoppers. St. Gallen, the cup winners, are also auctioning the match ball, signed by all players, with the proceeds going to youth development.