FC St. Gallen celebrate a great success in Turkey. The team from eastern Switzerland win the second leg against Trabzonspor 5:4 on penalties and advance to the Conference League.
August 29 is a date of success for FC St. Gallen. Exactly eleven years after their last appearance in the group stage of a European competition, St. Gallen managed to repeat the feat. In 2013, they defeated Spartak Moscow 4:2 away from home after a 1:1 draw. This year, the team from eastern Switzerland also traveled to the second leg with a draw (0:0) and celebrated their successful qualification.
There were many heroes in Trabzon. The most celebrated were two Ghanaians: Stephan Ambrosius scored the decisive penalty into St. Gallen's fortune, while Lawrence Ati Zigi got the team there in the first place with his saves. As in St. Gallen, the goalkeeper distinguished himself with numerous saves and made his opponents desperate by the dozen.
The visitors showed their commitment on the road and were rewarded in the 31st minute when the advanced full-back Isaac Schmidt tucked the ball into the net after a pass from Chadrac Akolo. The 24-year-old, who had missed the first leg the previous week through injury, thus crowned his comeback.
The home team got back into the game in the 52nd minute after a corner kick, but missed several good opportunities to take the lead. It was particularly close in the 110th minute when Trezeguet's free kick landed on the St. Gallen crossbar. With the necessary luck, the team from eastern Switzerland fought their way into the penalty shoot-out, at the end of which they emerged victorious.
This is St. Gallen's seventh qualification for a European competition after 1969 (European Cup Winners' Cup), 1983, 1985, 2000, 2001 (UEFA Cup) and 2013 (Europa League). The six opponents the Eastern Swiss will face in their first participation in the Conference League will be drawn on Friday in Monaco.
Telegram
Trabzonspor - St. Gallen 1:1 (1:1, 0:1) n.V. - St. Gallen 4:5 winners on penalties.
SR Treimanis (LVA). - Goals: 31st Schmidt (Akolo) 0:1. 52nd Destan (Barisic) 1:1. - Penalty shoot-out: Denswil 1:0; Milosevic 1:1; Trezeguet 2:1; Vallci 2:2; Barisic 3:2; Cissé 3:3; Dragus 4:3; Toma 4:4; Savic - (crossbar shot); Ambrosius 4:5.
St. Gallen: Ati Zigi; Schmidt (61. Faber), Ambrosius, Vallci, Okoroji (85. Yannick); Görtler, Stevanovic (91. Diaby), Witzig (61. Csoboth); Toma; Geubbels (73. Cissé), Akolo (46. Milosevic).
Notes: 110th shot on target by Trezeguet.
SDA
