Playing in front of their home crowd at the Al Maglio Sports Centre in one of the two postponed fixtures from matchday 11 of the Hoval Promotion League, Lugano U21 suffered defeat at the hands of Kreuzlingen, who came from behind to win 2–3 (1–0).
Once again, manager Andrea Vitali was unable to call upon several injured players. In particular, Alessio Chiesa, Luca Molino, Nicolò Puddu and Jason Parente were unavailable – and will remain so for several more weeks. On the other hand, Claudio Cassano was named in the squad for the first time, having been sidelined since the end of January this year due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and injuries to the lateral and medial menisci of his right knee, sustained during an internal training match between the first and second teams.
The sunny and pleasant Sunday afternoon in Canobbio began with the visitors looking to unsettle the Ticino side. In the third minute, a through ball from Tristan Matković sent Adrian Rama-Bitterfeld through on goal with a left-footed shot. The attempt was superbly saved by an alert Diego Mina. For a good ten minutes, the two sides sized each other up, conceding no space in their respective attacking thirds. Then, almost as if by magic, in the 14th minute, Leon Rüeger delivered a superb cross from left to right for Aaron Davis. The winger, number 17, timed his run perfectly to meet the ball and, with a splendid left-footed volley – also struck diagonally – opened the scoring for the home side.
Shortly afterwards, it was the turn of Bryan Zurmühle and Christian Raffa to launch a swift counter-attack following a Thurgau corner. The centre-forward set up the attacking midfielder – who would shortly afterwards be booked for protesting (his fifth yellow card of the season) – who dribbled past the full-back and fired a shot towards Fabian Fellmann, who came out on top in the one-on-one with a fist save. At the other end, the risk of conceding an equaliser was real, but Levin Nay failed to hit the target with a lob from the penalty spot, with no opposition pressure.
As the half-hour mark approached, Mina took centre stage with two decisive saves that shaped the provisional scoreline. First, the goalkeeper dived to tip away a free-kick from Nay aimed at the top corner. He then parried a venomous header from Reda Laidouci off his goal line. The team from the lower Valais once again threatened in the ‘three-yard box’ with a long ball from Aleksandar Radić to Zurmühle, whose right-footed shot, however, was ‘stifled’ and easily read by Fellmann. In the dying moments of the first half, the Confederates struck the side netting through Mokhtar Boulachab and saw a header from the same midfielder go wide of the target.
Upon returning from the changing rooms, the game took a dramatic turn. Whilst Radić made a superb sliding tackle to avert the worst and a turn and shot by Nay went over the bar, the latter’s run onto a loose ball in the centre of the box resulted in the equaliser. The winner came after a miraculous initial save by Mina. The home side’s response was not long in coming, and a move involving several players – Gjan Ajdin played the ball out to the touchline for Daniel Leo, whose cross found the newly-substituted Rafael Frizzi, followed by two close-range attempts from Raffa and Rüeger that failed to find the net – sent the crowd at the Maglio into a frenzy. Among those present, the figures of Elias Pihlström, Mattia Zanotti and the great former player Mattia Bottani could be spotted.
This moment is not repeated later on, as Yusuf Arslan’s men continue to press in search of the goal that would turn the score around. After a powerful shot from Alen Camdzić is deflected into a corner with finesse by Mina, the inevitable happens. Laidouci’s shot hit the post and rebounded to Boulachab, who didn’t think twice and, on the half-volley, sent the ball over the line. Having made it 1–2, the Swiss-German side consistently threatened to score a third. Nay’s left-footed effort, which went just over, served as a prelude to Radić’s mistake, which ultimately allowed Enrique Wild to score into an empty net.
From the 84th minute onwards, the bianconeri tried to get back into the game. A cross from Leo intended for Cassano failed to reach the talented Italian due to a timely intervention by a defender, whilst a right-footed shot from Andrea Riva struck an opponent’s arm. For the referee, Maxime Odiet – who was excellently positioned – there were insufficient grounds to award a penalty, as he deemed the arm to be close to the body. As the match drew to a close, a precise free-kick from the centre of the attacking third by the Trani-born player towards Rüeger resulted in a diagonal volley from the former Schaffhausen player. The score remained 2–3, despite the four minutes of added time awarded.
Lugano U21’s fourth consecutive defeat leaves the side in fifteenth place on 9 points. The next fixture, in which they will be aiming for all three points, will take place on Saturday 17 October 2026, kicking off at 4.00 pm at the Stade du Blanché in Grand-Saconnex, the ‘home ground’ of the current seventh-placed side in the Swiss third division.
Meanwhile, the bianconeri’s manager, Andrea Vitali, had the following to say about his players’ performance on this October afternoon: “We were always a step behind on the ball and failed to organise ourselves properly to keep our opponents at bay during the first twenty minutes of the second half. We had chances to seal the match, especially during the first forty-five minutes. We lacked the ruthlessness to do so, and Kreuzlingen did well to turn the match around. It’s a shame about the third goal, because it could have been avoided. Finally, we showed a bit of a reaction with Leon Rüeger’s goal. To be honest, we didn’t play well today. Even though we lost, we’d come off the back of some positive performances. This time, it’s a minor setback, but it’s all part of the lads’ development. Claudio Cassano? He’s a lad coming back from a long cruciate ligament injury and I’m sure he’ll be able to give us a hand in the coming weeks.”
MATCH REPORT
Hoval Promotion League 2026–2027, Matchday 11
Al Maglio Sports Centre, Canobbio – 300 spectators
FC LUGANO U21 – FC KREUZLINGEN 2–3 (1–0)
GOALS: 14’ Davis 1–0, 54’ Nay 1–1, 62’ Boulachab 1–2, 81’ Wild 1–3, 90’ Rüeger 2–3.
FC LUGANO U21 (3-2-3-2): Mina; Gamba, Krueziu, Radić; Gervasini (60’ Migliorati), Amirzade; Davis (60’ Leo), Ajdin (75’ Cassano), Rüeger; Raffa (60’ Riva), Zurmühle (51’ Frizzi).
Substitutes: Gerosa, Alsheikh.
Manager: Andrea Vitali.
FC KREUZLINGEN (4-3-1-2): Fellmann; Ismaili, Affentranger, Matković, Wild (87’ Muata); Boulachab, Rama-Bitterfeld (67’ Tisch Rottensteiner), Marinović; Nay (87' Ukaj); Camdzić (61' Di Nucci), Laidouci (87' Zeqiri).
Substitutes: Nuñez dos Reis, Mustafa.
Manager: Yusuf Arslan.
REFEREE: Maxime Odiet.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Noël Lötscher and Adrian Lanz.
BOOKINGS: 24' Raffa, 58' Gervasini, 60' Marinović, 89' Tisch Rottensteiner.