Basel beat Lugano and extend their lead at the top of the table. But FCB also claim a lot of luck in a scene with the score at 0-0. Albian Ajeti should not have complained about a red card in the first half.
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- Albian Ajeti hits opponent Anto Grgic on the knee with an outstretched leg and is lucky to only receive a yellow card.
- blue referee expert Stephan Klossner says: "For me, it's a red card."
- Basel ultimately beat Lugano 2-0 and extend their lead at the top of the table to four points.
It's the 32nd minute at St. Jakob-Park, the score is 0:0. A seemingly harmless duel breaks out in the center circle between Basel striker Albian Ajeti and Lugano's Anto Grgic. The latter remains lying on the ground with his face contorted in pain. The TV footage shows Ajeti playing the ball first, but then hitting Grgic on the knee with an outstretched leg. The Basel player is shown a yellow card - and is lucky that the VAR does not intervene and referee Johannes von Mandach does not call for a review.
This was not the first time such an action would have resulted in a red card. Lugano, of all teams, were recently penalized in a similar situation when they were knocked out of the Conference League. On Sunday, the frustration was once again on the Ticino side.
Klossner would have given red
blue refereeing expert Stephan Klossner says in his analysis that he can understand Mandach's decision. But: "For me, the goal picture is a red card. I have the feeling that Ajeti could have put his foot down. He pulls it back slightly, so the VAR is right not to intervene. A yellow card is acceptable, but red would have been correct for me. The risk of injury is high."
Ajeti is lucky and is allowed to play on. In the end, FCB won 2-0 and extended their lead in the table. Ajeti himself said after the game about the controversial scene: "I've known Anto (Grgic) for a long time. He knows it wasn't intentional on my part. You can see that I go for the ball first."
The other Lugano players would also have agreed with him. "Reni (Steffen) and Uran (Bislimi) were really nice and said it wasn't a deliberate action. It looks bad, but it really wasn't intentional," Ajeti continued. Fortunately, Grgic was not injured in the incident and was able to continue playing. In the end, however, it was Basel who celebrated.
