The ‘English week’ at the start of September continued with a frustrating evening for FC Lugano Femminile, who suffered defeat on home turf at the Centro Sportivo Al Maglio in Canobbio against Gambarogno in front of a superb crowd.
The first of the season’s two Lega Nazionale B derbies – coming just four days after their splendid 4–0 victory over the formidable Sion – got off to a poor start for coach Andrea Antonelli’s side. After five minutes, following a corner, the ball fell to Veronika Emini, who struck it powerfully, leaving Chiara Audrino with no chance and giving the team from Sopracenera an early lead.
Forced to react, the bianconeri steadily pushed forward in search of an equaliser. In the eleventh minute, a burst of pace from Aline Oliva saw the elusive winger cross from the byline for Mathilda Andreoli, who missed the ball by a whisker. Shortly afterwards, Sabina Di Muro attempted a long-range shot which was deflected wide. The Oliva-Andreoli duo were in the thick of it again a couple of minutes later. On this occasion, the No. 7 dithered with her first touch, letting the potential chance slip away. The attacking moves multiplied and once again Andreoli, sent through the lines by Antonella Albertini’s magical left foot, outpaced her former team-mate Eleonora Castellani and delivered a low cross that crossed the face of goal unchallenged.
In the nineteenth minute, a quickly taken free-kick gave Di Muro the chance to test Marie Enning. However, the midfielder’s right-footed shot from the edge of the box was straight down the middle and easily read by the other former player. Whilst the Lugano side maintained control of the game, the visitors looked to counter-attack, and it took a superb sliding tackle from the outstanding Melissa Colombo to stop Isabella Osterwalder’s run. The subsequent chances created by the home side failed to yield the desired result. First, a through ball from Oliva to Andreoli was cleared for a corner. Then, a one-two between Colombo and Di Muro sent the captain through for a shot from 25 metres, which went wide. For their part, whenever the Locarno side entered the penalty area, they were dangerous. This was the case in the 40th minute, when referee Farah Bachir, to everyone’s astonishment, awarded a penalty for a challenge on Stella Suter deemed to be a foul. From the spot, Clara Lucchini made no mistake, despite Audrino guessing the direction. At half-time, the score favoured AS Gambarogno, who had been clinical in capitalising on their chances.
The second half began with a substitution for the home side: Esther Nicolussi came on for Josipa Dalić with the aim of adding more ‘weight’ up front. Consequently, the second forty-five minutes were played for the most part in the bianconeri’s attacking half. However, what was lacking on this early Wednesday evening was the necessary quality in the final sixteen metres. This was confirmed by Andreoli’s right-footed shot – following a set-piece from the corner flag – which flew wide of the target. Di Muro’s subsequent powerful effort was straight down the middle and posed no problems for Enning. Just like Oliva’s effort. That move came just moments before the game was thrown wide open again. It was the 70th minute and a through ball to Andreoli allowed the talented No. 7 to sprint forward, dribble past the goalkeeper and slot the ball into the empty net to make it 1–2.
The excitement at finally breaking the deadlock fizzles out in the 79th minute. Yet another set-piece proves lethal for the Lugano side, who concede their opponents’ third goal from Giada Amato’s turn and shot. With their third shot on target, Gambarogno score their third goal. In the frantic closing stages, a curling right-footed shot by Andreoli from the left-hand corner of the box flew just wide. A few minutes later, in the 87th minute, Nicolussi protested over a handball in the box that appeared obvious even to those present. The referee’s whistle failed to sound, and so the bianconeri players left the pitch empty-handed.
This setback – their third in their first five matches – sees Giorgia Zanaboni and her team-mates slip to eleventh place on 4 points, largely due to the results of other teams. The chance to make amends with interest is already just around the corner. On Saturday 12 September 2026, kicking off at 6.00 pm, they will face Étoile Carouge in one of the longest away trips of the season.
Before that, here is the terse post-match comment from manager Andrea Antonelli, visibly frustrated by the result of the midweek home fixture: “We certainly fell short in the final sixteen metres. Up to that point, we’d built up play well. We weren’t as incisive as we were on Saturday in Sion. Unfortunately, it’s a defeat that stings, and we need to bounce back straight away to prepare for the match in Carouge. Conceding three goals from three set-pieces? That’s our Achilles’ heel. We must work as hard as we can to avoid these unfortunate situations.’
MATCH REPORT
Women’s National League B, Matchday 5
Al Maglio Sports Centre, Canobbio – 350 spectators
FC LUGANO – AS GAMBAROGNO 1:3 (0:2)
GOALS: 5’ Emini 0–1, 41’ Lucchini 0–2 (penalty), 70’ Andreoli 1–2, 79’ Amato 1–3.
FC LUGANO (4–1–4–1): Audrino; Di Mauro, Colombo, Zanaboni, Bassi (61’ Aio); Albertini; Oliva, Di Muro (61’ Negri), von Ballmoos, Andreoli (90’ +1’ Rossi); Dalić (46’ Nicolussi).
Substitutes: Imelli, Unternährer, Milosavljević, Cuitino, Calatti.
Manager: Andrea Antonelli.
AS GAMBAROGNO (4-5-1): Enning; Castellani (81’ Ostini), Emini, De Marco, Patocchi; Suter (59’ Stomeo), Prandi, Antonini (81’ Gaggetta), Lucchini, Maderna (59’ Molinari); Osterwalder (73’ Amato).
Substitutes: Acar, Gamboni.
Manager: Patrick Donghi.
REFEREE: Farah Bachir.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Leandro Giulini and Esad Mehmeti.
BOOKINGS: 54’ Castellani, 66’ Stomeo, 90' +3' Di Muro, 90’ +4’ Amato.
Women's First TeamSeptember 10, 2026