With luck, intelligence and bad luck from the opposition, the FCZ frees itself from last place in the championship round. Winterthur’s coach Patrick Framework is nearing the end of his year-long success story.
Finally scored again: Amadou Dante, hugged by Daniel Afriyie, celebrates his third FCZ goal.
Gaetan Bally / Keystone
Perhaps the message from the FCZ fans who traveled with us also had an effect. They had hung oversized pennants from historic European Cup encounters over the sector. Underneath it said it was “time for some new ones”. After the 3-1 win on the Schützenwiese, that time has moved a little closer. FCZ is now ranked 5th, two points ahead of FC Winterthur. A first, small step into the European Cup has been taken.
In any case, the relief of the FCZ leadership was obvious when the referee blew the final whistle for the game. President Ancillo Canepa walked back and forth in front of the players’ entrance with a contented laugh, high-fiving everyone in his vicinity. Also the sports director Milos Malenovic, who is planning big for the next season. Participation in the European Cup is a prerequisite for this.
Two standard goals dispel the uncertainty
The pressure on the unsettled team was considerable, the new coach Ricardo Moniz even said before the game that not all players had shown that they could cope with this pressure against YB. Now Moniz was also able to say: “We have shown mental strength.” But it wasn’t quite that simple. The FCZ also needed luck and a good while before it could temporarily banish the uncertainty of the last few weeks from their legs and minds.
The starting phase belonged to FC Winterthur. It ended with Remo Arnold making it 1-0, who took advantage of the confused FCZ defense after a corner. While searching for an answer, something amazing happened. The FCZ remembered the old days under Bo Henriksen and decided to once again look for success through standard play after five games with only one goal.
That was successful: Two corners from Jonathan Okita were headed twice by Marc Hornschuh from the five-meter corner into the middle, and the 0-1 became 2-1 from the FCZ’s perspective. Only 25 minutes had been played. The FCZ world didn’t yet look the way Malenovic likes to imagine it – dominant, fast-paced, attractive – but at least the result was right. The FCZ had already learned under Henriksen that a goal is a goal, no matter how it comes about. This knowledge helped; After Amadou Dante’s 3-1 win, it helped even more to get the all-important victory over time.
“Nothing has been decided yet,” said Winterthur coach Patrick Framework. Two points behind with three laps to go is no reason to move away from 5th place as the goal. After three defeats in a row, Framework draws confidence from the “evaluation of the performance” of his team; he is basically satisfied. With the necessary belief, the result would also better reflect the performance.
Patrick Frame is likely to leave Winterthur
In fact, it was obvious that for once the luck of the game was not in Winterthur’s favor: for example with Basil Stillhart’s shot onto the crossbar shortly after the break. But Sayfallah Ltaief also often made the wrong decision in the FCZ penalty area. And a shaky FCZ can also take advantage of a chain of errors like those before the third goal.
For Frame it was probably the second last game as Winterthur coach on the Schützenwiese. The 55-year-old confirmed talks with Young Boys to take over from the designated champions next season. Until YB has definitely secured the title, the transfer will not be commented on further. This would make Framework the third coach after Alex Frei and Bruno Berner to set off for new shores after a successful season in Winterthur.
While Winterthur’s sports director Oliver Kaiser once again has to prove his luck in choosing a coach, the same also applies to the FCZ. Moniz has clearly announced his ambition to remain head coach next season. It remains to be seen whether the FCZ bosses will include him in their simulation games. In any case, it’s not entirely out of the question after the 3-1 win on the Schützenwiese.