Things get really wild at the end
St. Gallen survives the craziest football game of the year
After 21 minutes, FC St. Gallen already looks like the sure winner in the Conference League duel with Slask Breslau. But wild minutes turn the game completely over before the break. After that it gets really turbulent and extremely heated.
In the district league you see such wild games more often, but in professional football? Rather not. The Swiss club FC St. Gallen survived an extremely turbulent evening in the 3rd round of the Conference League against Polish club Slask Breslau. After a duel with 24 minutes of stoppage time, three sendings off and a VAR in constant use (well, of course it doesn't exist in the district class) the score is 3:2. The Swiss tabloid “Blick” marvels at one of the “craziest games in the European Cup”.
The omens for the Swiss were not bad. They went into the second duel with a 2-0 lead from the first leg and followed up early. In the 21st minute, Bastien Toma made it 1-0, and overall the lead for St. Gallen was now very comfortable. The Poles had already scored once before, but the VAR conceded the goal. Wroclaw captain Alex Petkov had hindered goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi.
Six disastrous minutes for St. Gallen
Even before the break, the game took a surprising turn. The Poles score three goals within six minutes. Petr Schwarz starts things off with a curious goal (41'), then Piotr Samiec-Talar follows up with a wonderful shot (43') and Petkov (45'+2). The game is suddenly balanced. Because the away goals rule no longer exists, everything is open again.
But that wasn't the end of the turbulence. In the second half there was a racist incident. Goalkeeper Ati Zigi complains several times about monkey noises in his direction. The referee indicates that the game will be stopped if any further incidents occur. A fan who is held responsible for the shouting is eventually taken out of the stadium by stewards.
Next upset: Petkov falls in the penalty area (76th), the referee gives a penalty. But after the VAR intervened, he reversed the decision, decided on Schwalbe and showed the Poland captain the second yellow card, i.e. he sees yellow-red. The “look” is surprised. The analysis says: “But to warn Petkov for the second time because of an alleged swallow is completely out of place, even completely wrong. Because the captain of the Poland is clearly hit by Stevanovic.”
Penalty in the 108th minute is repeated
Colleague Matias Nahuel also shared the fate of the yellow-red card in the eleventh minute of added time. He got the ball from close range. The video study lasts five minutes before there is a penalty. Christian Witzig steps up – and misses. But the VAR reports again. The Polish goalkeeper Rafal Leszczynski had moved off the line too early. The penalty is retaken. This time Willem Geubbels steps up and does it better. He scores 2:3 from the Swiss perspective, making it 4:3, St. Gallen celebrates.
But this wild game is not over yet. Arnau Oritz first sees a yellow card in the 22nd minute of added time, then a straight yellow-red card for complaining. Two minutes later it's actually over. In the next round, the team of former Augsburg and BVB II coach Enrico Maaßen will face Trabzonspor.
