Lucerne and St. Gallen are through to the quarter-finals of the Swiss Cup. The team from Central Switzerland beat Zug 94 with ease, while the team from Eastern Switzerland had to play Rapperswil-Jona on penalties. Lausanne, meanwhile, were defeated by Yverdon.
St. Gallen's match-winner was Lukas Kwatkowiak. The 29-year-old German, who is in goal in place of Lawrence Ati Zigi in the Cup, saved two attempts by the home team in the penalty shoot-out, which also failed twice on the edge of the goal. Behar Neziri and Carlo Boukhalfa missed on the St. Gallen side.
The latter did better in extra time when he converted a foul penalty in the 100th minute and supposedly put the favorites on the road to victory. Just five minutes later, however, St. Gallen had to concede the equalizer: Albert Vallci scored an own goal.
There was no sign of a difference in class throughout the match. On the contrary: lower-ranked Rapperswil-Jona were more active, had more of the play and, especially in regular time, the better chances to score.
Yverdon outplay the next favorite
The game between Yverdon and Lausanne-Sport also came down to a penalty shoot-out before Robin Golliard scored in the 114th minute to make it 2:1 for the home team. The Challenge League club eliminated the second team from the Super League after Servette.
Lausanne had everything under control in the first half and deservedly led 1-0 thanks to a goal from Theo Bair. However, Peter Zeidler's team let up in the second half and Yverdon got back into the game with a goal from veteran Dejan Sorgic 20 minutes before the end of normal time.
Lucerne gives Zug no chance
FC Luzern have reached the quarter-finals of the Swiss Cup for the first time in four years. Mario Frick's team lived up to its role as favorites against 1st division side Zug 94 and won 4:1.
Lucerne did not find it as easy at the start against their opponents from three leagues below as they had in the first two rounds, scoring the first goal after ten minutes against Perlen-Buchrain (3-0) and in the first minute against Bosna Neuchâtel. In the duel with Zug, the Lucerne team needed 37 minutes before they could celebrate for the first time. Lars Villiger climbed higher than Fuat Sulimani and scored with his head.
After the break, Adrian Grbic and Lucas Ferreira made the difference within three minutes (52nd/55th). Both also scored with their heads, each after a free kick from Matteo Di Giusto. In the closing stages, Christopher Teichmann for the underdogs and, for the first time, 17-year-old Sandro Wyss for the Luzern professionals also got on the scoresheet.
Telegrams
Zug 94 - Luzern 1:4 (0:1)
4108 spectators. - SR Turkes. - Goals: 37 Villiger 0:1. 52 Grbic 0:2. 55 Ferreira 0:3. 83 Teichmann 1:3. 91 Wyss 1:4.
Rapperswil-Jona - St. Gallen 1:1 (0:0, 0:0) n.V.; 1:2 i.P.
4761 spectators. - SR Gianforte. - Goals: 100. Boukhalfa (penalty) 0:1. 105. Vallci (own goal) 1:1.
Yverdon - Lausanne-Sport 2:1 (1:1, 0:1) n.V.
3220 spectators. - SR Cibelli. - Goals: 25 Bair 0:1. 71 Sorgic 1:1. 114 Golliard 2:1.
