During the weekend dedicated to the Swiss Cup, featuring thirty-two teams from various levels of Swiss football, Lugano U-21 took to the pitch at Grand-Saconnex’s home ground. The long away trip to the Canton of Geneva ended with a splendid late comeback, orchestrated by Christian Raffa, who scored the decisive brace at the Stade du Blanché.
For a match played in weather reminiscent of the current autumn season, manager Andrea Vitali was unable to call upon the long-term injured players Andrea Chiesa, Jason Parente and Nicolò Puddu, but welcomed back Luca Molino. The same goes for Claudio Cassano, who made an excellent impact in last week’s defeat against Kreuzlingen with a decisive assist and a series of moves that confirmed the exceptional quality he possesses. In defence, Daniel Leo is in the line-up, starting for the first time after four appearances as a substitute.
Ready, set, go – and after just two minutes, an opportunity to break the deadlock presents itself. It falls to the left foot of Bryan Zurmühle, who is, however, providentially denied by the home goalkeeper and captain, André Pinheiro. The tactical adjustment made by the bianconeri coaching staff – with Raffa and Andrea Riva positioned closer to the aforementioned centre-forward – ensured that the team’s centre of gravity was higher from the very start and that constant pressure was applied to every opposing player in possession. This continued until the tenth minute. After that, the Romands made two dangerous forays into Diego Mina’s area. On both occasions, the Ticino defence came out on top.
Whilst the roar of aeroplanes taking off from Cointrin International Airport can be heard in the background, the match drifts along without any real excitement. This is partly because the visitors’ potential chances fail to materialise due to offside calls. To witness an attempt – more of a long shot than anything else – one had to wait until the 26th minute. Following a free-kick from a promising position by Leon Rüeger and a bit of chaos in the Swiss-French penalty area, Raffa’s shot was harmless and sailed well wide of the goal. Zurmühle’s subsequent low shot was far more dangerous, forcing Pinheiro to make a save with his foot. A few moments later, Mina was unable to make a similar save; despite stretching to his full height, he couldn’t reach Amin Hajoubi’s precise right-footed shot from the edge of the box, which opened the scoring in the twenty-eighth minute. It was a harsh blow for the young Lugano side, who were severely punished for a positioning error.
After a brief flurry of protest over a push on Zurmühle in the penalty area – which referee Alex Barbey deemed not worthy of a penalty – play continued with an evenly matched battle for possession across the pitch. This continued until the double whistle sounded at the stroke of the 47th minute, at which point the teams headed for the changing rooms for a fifteen-minute half-time break.
Returning to the pitch after offering useful advice to their respective players, the two managers made no changes to the starting twenty-two. Consequently, the second half began with the same line-ups that had played out the first forty-five minutes. It was in the 58th minute that the Sottocenerino attack began to press with determination, troubling Pinheiro on two occasions. First, Andrea Riva played a through ball between the lines to Raffa, whose left-footed shot saw the home goalkeeper dive to parry the ball into the path of Aaron Davis. The #17’s turn and shot was a thing of beauty to watch, but lacked precision.
The desire to try and get back into the game meant that haste in execution proved to be a poor counsellor. Despite a positive, attack-minded attitude, the Ticino side could not find a way to ‘break through’ the Geneva defence. That was until the 81st minute, when a cross from Cassano was misjudged by Pinheiro; his blunder coming off his line allowed Rafael Frizzi to flick the ball on at the edge of the box to the onrushing Raffa, who pounced on it like a hawk and slotting it into the empty net for a well-deserved equaliser. And that wasn’t all, because 180 seconds later, the same No. 10 won the ball back in the centre-circle and surged forward towards the penalty area. Once there, he fires a winning right-footed shot into the bottom corner, turning the score around. The score remains unchanged until the 94th minute, at which point the celebrations for regaining victory can truly begin.
With these three points secured, Lugano U-21 climb the table, rising to 14th place on 12 points. The next opportunity to add to their tally comes on Sunday 25 October 2026. At 4.00 pm, at the Al Maglio Sports Centre in Canobbio, the cantonal derby against newly-relegated Bellinzona will take place.
‘The lads played a focused and professional match throughout. In attack, especially during the first half, we made a few rash decisions that prevented us from really “sealing the deal”. However, if there was one team that had to come out on top through commitment and self-sacrifice, it was ours. Christian Raffa’s winning goal? It was a perfect counter-attack. He even had the chance to pass to Rafael Frizzi, but decided to finish it off himself. For that, and for so many other reasons, I’m really pleased. We’d come off the back of a difficult spell. After the heavy defeat against Kreuzlingen, we were all gutted because we’d struggled. This squad, however, is working patiently to achieve our goal.”
Post-match interview with manager Andrea Vitali
MATCH REPORT
Hoval Promotion League 2026–2027, Matchday 12
Stade du Blanché, Grand-Saconnex
FC GRAND-SACONNEX – FC LUGANO U-21 1–2 (1–0)
GOALS: 28’ Hajoubi 1–0, 81’ Raffa 1–1, 84’ Raffa 1–2.
FC GRAND-SACONNEX (4-3-3): Pinheiro; Scandurra, Almeida Matos (53’ Gaud), Nwanne, Opoku Mensah; Hajoubi (53’ Ait Abbas), Kungi, Anselme; Carraturo (76' Haidara), Lopes Correia (76' Matuvunu), Gomez (36' Abbas).
Substitutes: Tomas, Ndiyo.
Manager: Jean-Michel Aeby.
FC LUGANO U-21 (3-4-3): Mina; Gamba, Krueziu, Leo (61’ Molino); Davis, Amirzade, Migliorati, Rüeger; Raffa, Riva (61’ Cassano), Zurmühle (76’ Frizzi).
Substitutes: Gerosa, Radić, Schipani.
Manager: Andrea Vitali.
REFEREE: Axel Barbey.
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Denys Greder and Sven Jeanneret.
BOOKINGS: 51’ Zurmühle, 63’ Gamba, 78’ Ait Abbas, 87’ Opoku Mensah, 90’ +1’ Gaud, 90’ +2’ Molino, 90’ +3’ Scandurra.