St.Gallen dominated for 70 minutes in Lucerne, leading 2:0 - then the game tipped over. Debutant Antonio Verinac sees the red card after three minutes. Captain Lukas Görtler criticizes the new signing and says in an interview with blue Sport that the scene "broke the team's neck".
In the 71st minute, St.Gallen coach Enrico Maassen makes a double change and replaces his striker duo: Diego Besio comes on for Aliou Balde. And double goalscorer Alessandro Vogt, who had put his team 2-0 ahead in Lucerne three minutes earlier, was also allowed to call it a day.
The 20-year-old is replaced by Antonio Verinac. The German-Croatian dual national was only signed during the week from regional league club VfB Lübeck. The 21-year-old attacker has signed a contract with the club from eastern Switzerland until 2030. Super League instead of the fourth-highest league in Germany.
His debut in Switzerland lasted just three minutes. After an elbow strike against an FCL player, referee Fedayi San shows him the red card following VAR intervention. Verinac is the first FCSG player to be shown this in his first Super League match.
Görtler: "A little too much motivation"
The home team immediately gained hope when outnumbered. And Lucerne managed to equalize with two late goals (86th and 95th). The missed victory is "extremely annoying" for Lukas Görtler. "We played a really, really good game for 70 minutes. A confident, very compact first half. I have the feeling that everyone is a bit better than their opponent one-on-one," said the FCSG captain.
Görtler continued: "And then, yes ... I like players who are motivated, who come, who are aggressive, who want to throw everything into it. Today it was probably a bit too much motivation. He has to learn from that. I'm sure he will, but of course that's what broke our back a bit today," emphasized the veteran.
