The twentieth match day of the Hoval Promotion League brings no points for Lugano U21, who were beaten 4-0 by Breitenrain in front of their home crowd at Maglio di Canobbio.
The match that brought the shortest month of the year to a close began with the Bernese intent on making their mark from the very first moments of the game. Between the second and third minutes, Aleksandar Radić had to pull out all the stops to prevent a quick capitulation. First, the centre-back deflected a shot by Timo Sollberger into a corner. Then, he saved an opponent's overhead kick on the goal line. However, these incidents were a preview of what happened in the sixth minute. The Confederates' fourth corner in a row turned into a goal with Christoph Schneuwly's winning tap-in, skilfully putting a loose ball into the back of the net.
Just after the quarter-hour mark, Milad Amirzade tried a left-footed shot on the rebound that went just over the bar. At the other end, a clash between Radić and Mark Marleku led referee Henrik Karlsson to award a penalty for a slightly too energetic tackle by the home defender. From the spot, Antero Neto Gomes kept his cool and beat Diego Mina with a shot to the bottom corner to double the lead. The young Bianconeri tried to react, but neither Ilija Maslarov (shot wide) nor Alessio Chiesa (interesting turn and shot from Jason Parente's free kick) could find the target. At the other end, the Bears protested about Arbnor Gecaj holding back Sollberger, but Karlsson waved play on. At the end of the half, a counterattack started by Tim Frey was just off target for Marleku. As a result, the teams went into the break with the score at 0-2.
The home side came back from the dressing room looking more confident, so much so that in the first three hundred seconds, the play was in the attacking third. In particular, there was a header by Maslarov that was cleared off the line and a left-footed shot by the captain that was deflected for a corner. The pressure ended there, as Alain Villard's men sensed the danger and regained control of the game. Without overdoing it, however, they scored their third goal just before the hour mark. A series of passes around the centre circle sent Sollberger on the counter-attack, and he beat Mina to seal the victory.
After a flurry of substitutions, which saw both coaches use up their allotted number in quick succession, Mina skilfully denied the newly entered Joel Campbell before capitulating in the 85th minute when Maslarov lost the ball in midfield, allowing Aggee Wenzi to set up Marleku. The former Lucerne player scored his team's fourth goal with a diagonal shot that kissed the inside of the post to the right of the Sottocenerino goalkeeper before entering the net.
The defeat drops Lugano U21 to twelfth place in the table, with their lead over the relegation zone reduced to four points. The next match, scheduled at the Stade de Copet, home of bottom-of-the-table Vevey-Sports, is set for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, 7 March 2026.
At the end of the match, coach Andrea Vitali commented on the bitter afternoon experienced by his players: It was a bad day. At no point in the match did the team play well. It's a misstep that makes us think we absolutely must change our attitude and be more courageous. That said, we deserved to lose the match. Credit to Breitenrain, who were the better team. The twelve goals conceded and the complicated return to the league? We knew that would happen, given that we have rejuvenated the squad. We expected problems, and perhaps there are more than we anticipated. We are certainly conceding too much at the back. Without our opponents doing anything special, they find ways to be dangerous. We need to work on that. The clash with Vevey? This is a big blow, let's see if we have the courage to react. We have a week to prepare for the trip to Vaud with the aim of approaching it with a different attitude than today.
MATCH REPORT
Hoval Promotion League, Matchday 20
Centro Sportivo Al Maglio, Canobbio - 100 spectators
FC LUGANO U21 - FC BREITENRAIN 0:4 (0:2)
GOALS: 6' Schneuwly 0:1, 17' Neto Gomes 0:2 (penalty), 58' Sollberger 0:3, 85' Marleku 0:4.
FC LUGANO U21 (3-5-1-1): Mina; Gecaj (60' Molino), Radić, Chiesa (60' Krueziu); Peverelli, Amirzade, Maslarov, Parente, Tiraboschi (70' Raffa); Puddu (46' Shabanaj); Piffero (60' Frizzi).
Substitutes: Ndiaye, Jagodić.
Coach: Andrea Vitali.
FC BREITENRAIN (4-1-4-1): Kilchhofer; Lüthi, Schneuwly, Schneeberger, Pahud (78' Stadelmann); Briner; Neto Gomes (72' Campbell), Pereira (65' Wenzi), Frey (72' Fleury), Sollberger (78' Aellig); Marleku.
Substitutes: Kissling, Obama.
Coach: Alain Villard.
REFEREE: Henrik Karlsson.
ASSISTANTS: Pascal Schuler and Branko Jurčević.
BOOKINGS: 24' Pereira, 47' Radić, 47' Briner.
Men's U21February 28, 2026