There were many signs that St. Gallen would end the bear market with a threesome after four defeats in a row. The “Green and Whites”, who were flawless at home in the first half of the season, led 2-1 against Winterthur in front of their home team and seemed to have everything under control 20 minutes before the end of the game. But then a single scene caused the fragile structure of the struggling Eastern Swiss team to collapse: Mattia Zanotti misjudged, brought down Boubacar Fofana and was sent off the field with a yellow-red card.
The numerical preponderance gave Winterthur a sudden tailwind. 6 minutes after Zanotti’s dismissal, Nishan Burkart (77th), who had been substituted 3 minutes earlier, only accompanied by the “Espen” defense, equalized to make it 2-2. The “Eulachstädter” then pushed for the winning goal, but St. Gallen’s Bastien Toma missed the best chance (83′). His shot just missed the Winterthur goal. So it ultimately remained 2:2. St. Gallen ends its pointless streak, but will certainly mourn the lost victory.
Milosevic quickly, Fofana faster
Jovan Milosevic had an ideal debut at St. Gallen. The loanee from VfB Stuttgart was there after a slip by Winterthur goalie Marvin Keller and only needed 5 minutes to score the first goal in the green jersey. Half an hour later, Milosevic’s working day was over again and he had to be replaced injured.
In this phase, Winterthur managed to wrest the scepter away from the FCSG. Despite more possession of the ball, the guests hardly managed to do anything dangerous. That changed immediately after the break: just 42 seconds after the restart, Fofana evaded his opponent Jozo Stanic and safely fed the ball into the goal to make it 1-1. This result did not last long. Toma (57th), who came on as a half-time substitute, scored from close range. Christian Witzig had prepared magistrally after an attack of energy on the left side. For Peter Zeidler’s team, the signs were pointing to a breakthrough. Until Zanotti came a step too late.
The voices for the game
This is how it goes
The FCSG will play their next home game in a week on Saturday, with bottom team Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy as guests. Winterthur travels to Lausanne-Sport a day later.