Zurich can exile. No, not just GC, which has been playing in foreign Letzigrund for over 17 years. But also city rival FCZ, who had to switch to St. Gallen for the cracker against Arsenal due to the World Class Zurich athletics event. The balance after 90 minutes in the Kybunpark: FCZ is loud, FCZ is present, FCZ has a home game.
Performance explosions like those of the Diamond League cracks in Zurich are not happening in St. Gallen – and the title “world class” is undeserved. Because while the FCZ in the ranks of the well-filled arena (17,070 fans) clearly buys the edge from the world club Arsenal, which has countless fan clubs in Switzerland, the Londoners are the boss on the pitch from minute 1.
Xhaka’s dominance, Zurich’s rebellion
Against the team of Granit Xhaka, who leads Arsenal formally (captain’s armband) and playfully on the field, the Swiss champion is showered early: Eddie Nketiah escapes the FCZ defense, finds Marquinhos in the middle – and this the upper left corner. 16 minutes have been played and the mass in the St. Gallen football cathedral seems to have already been finished.
While subsequent attempts by FC Zurich to rear up here and there add some refreshment to Arsenal’s dominance, the English also recklessly miss the best chances. Until, yes, it’s suddenly 1-1: Mirlind Kryeziu scores after a foul penalty (44th) and sends both teams into the break with a draw.
Sure thing in the second half
After the break, in which we received the news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death and a minute’s silence before the restart, things continued in a similar style: Arsenal and especially Granit Xhaka dominated. The result: The outstanding Eddie Nketiah scores after colleague Marquinhos reciprocates Nketiah’s assist from the first half with a fine cross (62′).
The 2:1 is the end result, which gives us the following insights: Despite a courageous performance, Zurich missed a coup that would have done the troubled city club so good. Zurich is better than the league results of the last few weeks show. And: Zurich with a home game in a real football stadium is something to be proud of. (sih)