FC Lugano returned to winning ways on the evening of the Greenmatch, marking Mattia Croci-Torti’s 200th match in charge of the bianconeri. At Cornaredo, the home side beat Grasshopper Club Zürich 2–1 thanks to goals from Anto Grgic and Kevin Behrens, though they were under pressure in the closing stages as the visitors staged a comeback.
A BALANCED FIRST HALF
The first chance fell to GCZ in the 5th minute, with Plange’s left-footed shot parried by von Ballmoos. Shortly afterwards, Lugano responded through Alioski, who set up Belhadj, but his tap-in from close range went over the bar. The match remained lively: in the 31st minute, Zvonarek came close to opening the scoring with a diagonal shot that went just wide, before Behrens replied at the other end with a dangerous header. Before half-time, Grasshopper threatened again through the towering Diaby (195 cm), whose header narrowly missed the top corner. The teams went in at half-time with the score at 0–0.
GRGIC AND BEHRENS PROVE DECISIVE
Lugano came out of the dressing room with greater conviction and took the lead in the 56th minute: Behrens collected a through ball in the box and was brought down by Paloschi, who was shown a second yellow card. From the spot, the ever-reliable Grgic made no mistake and made it 1-0. Bolstered by their numerical advantage, Lugano pressed forward, but in the 70th minute, following a misplaced clearance from deep, Jensen stunned Cornaredo with a powerful long-range shot to level the match. The bianconeri, however, reacted immediately: in the 74th minute, Dos Santos broke through on the left and picked out Behrens in the box, who, after a clumsy first attempt, slotted home the rebound to make it 2–1.
In the closing stages, Grasshopper threw everything forward and came close to equalising on several occasions. Von Ballmoos made a crucial save from Arigoni in the 87th minute and shortly afterwards repeated the feat against Muci, securing the win. At the final whistle, Cornaredo could celebrate a precious victory, which came on a special evening both for the tradition of the Greenmatch and for Croci-Torti’s historic milestone of 200 matches in charge.
FC LUGANO – GRASSHOPPER CLUB ZÜRICH 2-1
Brack Super League – Matchday
7 Cornaredo Stadium, 27 September 2025
Attendance: 3
,194 Goalscorers: 56’ Grgic, 70’ Jensen, 74’ Behrens
FC LUGANO (4-3-3)
von Ballmoos; Marques (77’ Brault-Guillard, Mai, Papadopoulos, Alioski; Bislimi (88’ Doumbia), Grgic, Belhadj; Dos Santos (77’ Mahou), Behrens (88’ Duville-Parsemain), Bottani (64’ Cimignani).
Substitutes: Saipi, Cassano, El Wafi, Pihlström.
Manager: Mattia Croci-Torti.
GRASSHOPPER CLUB ZÜRICH
: Hammel; Paloschi, Diaby, Abels; Stroscio (82’ Giandomenico), Hassane (82’ Meyer), Zvonarek, Marques (77’ Arigoni); Jensen, Lee Young-Jun (53’ Clemente), Plange (77’ Muci).
Substitutes: Glaus, Diarrassouba, Clemente, Verón Lupi.
Manager: Gerald Scheiblehner.
Referee: Nico Gianforte
. Assistant referees: Susanne Küng and Leroy Hartmann
. Fourth official: Mirel Turkes
. VAR and AVAR: Anojen Kanagasingam and Tobias Thies
Booked: Zvonarek (GCZ), Paloschi (GCZ), Mai (LUG), Abels (GCZ)
Sent off: Paloschi (GCZ)