Goalless draw between FC Zurich and FC Lugano
The final game of 2018 between FC Zurich and FC Lugano has ended in a goalless draw this afternoon.
Already in the fifth minute of the game, FC Lugano’s Alexander Gerndt had the first chance to open the score and put his side in front, but his shot was slightly off target and the ball flew past the right post. The visitors then had two more opportunities as a direct free-kick by Petar Brlek went over the Zurich goal (17th minute) and six minutes later, a shot from Fabio Daprelà following a fast counterattack was too wide and the ball whizzed past the post (23rd minute).
Then it was finally FC Zurich’s turn to have a first go at their opponents’ goal: Stephen Odey's shot in the 26th minute was aimed too high and over the Lugano goal. Just two minutes later, Benjamin Kololli got close to scoring when his direct free-kick from around 25 meters missed the visitors’ goal by a few inches (28th minute) and in the 42nd minute, Lugano goalkeeper Noam Baumann kept out another Kololli free-kick to keep his team from going behind.
After the half-time break, both teams had several chances to score the game winning goal and claim the three points. The best of them fell to newly signed FC Zurich striker Yann Kasai in stoppage time, but his header following a cross by Hakim Guenouche didn’t find the back of the net and the ball bounced off the left post. Consequently, the score remained goalless until the final whistle.
Thanks to this draw, FC Zurich finish the first half of the championship with 25 points and ranked 4th. On Sunday, 3 February 2019, FC Zurich will kick off the second half of the season with their away game against FC St Gallen.
