Hope is alive at Grasshoppers. The Zurich side won the basement duel against Yverdon 5:0 and relegated the Vaud side to the bottom of the table in the third-last round.
14.05.2025, 22:23
14.05.2025, 22:25
SDA
As unfortunate as things have been for the Grasshoppers in recent games, the capital game against Yverdon got off to a good start. As inferior as the Grasshoppers had been in their recent defeats against Winterthur and FC Zurich, they were given an easy ride against Yverdon, who were in similarly poor form and winless for the eighth time in a duel between the two weakest offensive teams in the league. The Hoppers played in superior numbers from the 5th minute onwards. They led from the 7th minute and were 3-0 up at the break.
Yverdon's Ronaldo Tavares achieved the feat of being cautioned twice in the first five minutes. Shortly afterwards, Sonny Kittel put the home team 1-0 up. Over the next 30 minutes, the Grasshoppers began to falter again. But suddenly Kittel doubled the lead with a spectacular 2:0 (40th minute) and a deflected long-range shot from Dirk Abels made it 3:0 before the break.
Kittel's opening goal in the 5th minute benefited from the preparatory work of Adama Bojang and Nikolas Muci. It also paid off that coach Tomas Oral, who had been under pressure, once again put his trust in his two most prolific strikers. Surprisingly, the two were not in the starting line-up against FCZ.
Leart Kabashi and Nestor Irankunda also scored for GC for the first time in the final ten minutes. Instead of coming close to their second direct relegation in six years with a fourth defeat in a row, the record champions now have it in their own hands again to ensure they stay in the league in the final two rounds. Tied on points with Winterthur, the Hoppers are now back in tenth place in the table. New bottom club Yverdon are one point behind, and GC's rivals in the relegation battle will go head-to-head on Saturday.
