In the rain at Cornaredo, FC Lugano and FC St. Gallen 1879 face off on matchday 36 of the Brack Super League, the third in the Championship Group. It is a head-to-head clash for the top spots, with the two sides going into the match level on points and second place up for grabs with three games remaining.
The match is played at a high tempo, with both sides going head-to-head in an open contest, producing a thrilling encounter. The bianconeri took the lead in the second half through Belhadj, but St. Gallen turned the result around with goals from Stevanović and Görtler from the penalty spot. In stoppage time, Lugano had the chance to equalise, but Zigi saved Alioski’s penalty, handing the visitors a 2-1 victory.
BALANCE AND CHANCES
The start was also affected by the pitch, which had been made heavy by the rain. The two sides sized each other up; the game was closely contested and clear-cut chances began to emerge as the minutes ticked by. St. Gallen immediately looked to threaten from a corner with a header from Jozo Stanić, which was central and comfortably saved by von Ballmoos.
The first real chance came in the 21st minute, when Daschner struck powerfully from outside the box, only for the bianconeri goalkeeper to react quickly and tip the ball away for a corner. At this stage, the visitors managed to occupy the attacking third with greater consistency, but Lugano grew into the game and, in the 25th minute, even found the net through Behrens following a rebound from Zigi after a fine run by Belhadj. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.
The incident gave the bianconeri confidence, and they increased their attacking presence. In the 35th minute, Behrens played in Steffen in the box, whose left-footed shot across goal was saved by Okoroji just centimetres from the line, with the help of the crossbar. St. Gallen responded in the 39th minute through Vogt, who had two shots from inside the box: the first was blocked, the second went just wide.
The biggest chance of the first half came just before the break. In the 42nd minute, Behrens once again acted as the attacking focal point and played a through ball for Papadopoulos, who, facing Zigi, cut inside and struck the post. The ball fell back to his feet, but the bianconeri defender failed to hit the target with his left foot.
VISITORS
TAKE THE LEAD AND COME FROM BEHIND The second half began at the same pace. St. Gallen looked dangerous through Balde, who broke down the left flank, cut into the box and tried a curling right-footed shot: von Ballmoos stretched and tipped it away with his fingertips.
In the 54th minute, Lugano broke the deadlock with a fine team move. Steffen flicked the ball on with his heel for Bislimi, who crossed into the centre for Behrens to head down. The ball fell to Belhadj outside the box, who did well to slot it home with the inside of his right foot: a precise finish, hitting the inside of the post, and the bianconeri took the lead.
Lugano continued to play with discipline, but in the 68th minute, St. Gallen equalised. Görtler won the ball back under high pressure, entered the box and fired a shot across goal: von Ballmoos parried, but Stevanović was on hand for the rebound, slotting home into an empty net to make it 1-1.
The game changes again in the 74th minute, when a shot from Balde deflects off Delcroix’s arm in the box. The referee points to the spot and Görtler converts the penalty to put the Green-Whites back in front.
In the closing stages, both sides stretched their lines. Croci-Torti brought on attacking players in search of an equaliser, whilst St. Gallen looked to exploit the spaces on the counter-attack. In the 85th minute, Besio found himself one-on-one with von Ballmoos, but the St. Gallen goalkeeper saved Lugano with a superb save. A minute later, it was von Ballmoos again who denied Boukhalfa, preventing the visitors from scoring a third.
The final moment of drama came in stoppage time. In the 93rd minute, from a free-kick taken by Bislimi, Steffen was held back in the box by Stevanović and the referee awarded a penalty. Alioski, who had already been decisive in Thun, stepped up to take the spot-kick, but this time Zigi read the direction and saved it.
St. Gallen thus secured the three points and moved three points clear of the bianconeri in the table. Lugano saw their run of four consecutive wins come to an end at the conclusion of a closely contested match full of incidents, in which they failed to capitalise on the chances they created. Croci-Torti’s side will be back in action on Thursday, away to FC Sion.
MATCH REPORT
: FC LUGANO – FC ST.GALLEN 1879 1-2
Brack Super League – Matchday
36 10 May 2026 – Cornaredo
Stadium Attendance: 3,828
Goalscorers: 54’ Belhadj, 68’ Stevanović, 74’ pen. Görtler.
FC LUGANO (3-4-1-2): von Ballmoos; Papadopoulos, Mai (77’ Bottani), Delcroix; Zanotti, Grgić (86’ Pihlström), Bislimi, Cimignani (68’ Alioski); Belhadj Mahmoud (77’ Mahou); Steffen, Behrens (68’ Koutsias).
Substitutes: Saipi, Kelvin, Carbone, Kendouci.
Manager: Mattia Croci-Torti.
FC ST.GALLEN 1879 (3-5-2): Zigi; Okoroji, Stanić (46’ Ruiz), Kleine-Bekel; Vandermersch, Görtler, Daschner, Boukhalfa, Weibel (32’ Besio); Vogt (46’ Stevanović), Balde.
Substitutes: Bujard, Gaal, Fazliji, Konietzke, Scherrer, Ouattara.
Manager: Enrico Maaßen.
Referee: Alessandro Dudic
Assistant referees: Nicolas Müller and Daniel von Känel
Fourth official: Maxime Odiet
VAR and AVAR: Lukas Fähndrich and Laura Mauricio
Bookings: Weibel (FCSG), Steffen (LUG), Vandermersch (FCSG), Delcroix (LUG), Besio (FCSG), Mahou (LUG), Daschner (FCSG).