Well-deserved victory in the match that pitted the immediate chasers of the leader Basel against each other. Croci-Torti's team showed throughout the contest that it absolutely wanted the three points at stake. Lucerne was annihilated by the grit and good tactical disposition of the Ticinese, who always gave the impression that they could make the match their own.
THREE-WAY DEFENSE.
Given the absences of Zanotti and Valenzuela, coach Croci-Torti returned to deploy the three-man defense as in the first half of the St. Gallen match. On the flanks operated Brault-Guillard and Cimignani. With Bottani supporting the only forward Koutsias.
THREE HCL POSTS
Lugano commanded operations throughout the first 45 minutes so much so that Saipi never had to intervene. But Lady Luck had no eyes for the HCL players who already at the quarter of an hour hit the post after Koutsias had been anticipated by a desperate exit of goalkeeper Lorenz. Again the HCL captain on the half-hour mark came close to scoring with a conclusion that hit the crossbar then the post and finally the goal line. On the loose ball ventured Koutsias who scored but starting from an offside position.
TWO WONDERFUL NETS
The second half began along the lines of the first with Lugano pushing forward with determination, Already at 52′ a fine cross by Cimignani was deflected in by Bislimi's header and it took a great instinctive intervention by Lorenz to prevent the Confederates from capitulation. The lead came at 67′ when Mahou, who had just entered the field, sprinted down the left and put a beautiful ball into the center on which Cimignani was imperial in taking a header and putting in the goal. The score was graced in 90′ when Dos Santos drew Belhadj to the edge of the box, the Tunisian avoided two adversaries and left-footed the ball into the crossbar of the posts.
SUNDAY IN BERN
On Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Lugano will be engaged in another very challenging test; in fact, it will be the guest of YB, which is the team with the most points in this 2025.
SCOREBOARD: LUGANO-LUCERNE 2-0 (0-0)
NETWORKS: 67′ Cimignani, 89′ Belhadj
AMMONITES: Rrudhani, Hajdari, Saipi, Dorn, Stankovic
SPECTATORS: 4047
LUGANO: Saipi, Papadopulos, Mai, Hajdari, Brault-Guillard (66′ Mahou), Grgic, Belhadj (90′ Doumbia), Cimignani (78′ Arigoni), Bislimi, Bottani (78′ Dos Santos), Koutsias (909′ Vladi). Unavailable: Marques, Aliseda, Valenzuela, Zanotti.
ARBITRO: Luca Cibelli.