FC St.Gallen get off to a horror start in Northern Ireland, but manage to turn things around against Larne FC and secure their hoped-for first win in the Conference League. Quotes after the game.
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- At the third attempt, FC St. Gallen managed to secure their first win in the Conference League. Against Northern Irish club Larne FC, the Espen rectified a false start and won 2:1.
- After going behind early on, the game in Belfast became a test of patience against a deep-lying opponent. However, this is nothing new for the team from eastern Switzerland.
- Coach Enrico Maassen said after the final whistle: "It's also a compliment to us, what we achieved in the early stages of the season, that every team now gets deep against us."
The opening minutes at Windsor Park in Belfast on Thursday evening were already very exciting. First, FC St. Gallen celebrated too early with the supposed lightning lead, shortly afterwards Diaby scored into his own goal and made the visitors' false start perfect.
"Unbelievable how we started. You're playing away in the Conference League against an opponent who tries to play deep anyway. And then you get an egg like that after two minutes and then you know it's going to be hard work," said Espen captain Lukas Görtler after the final whistle.
For Enrico Maassen, the difficult start is "a bit symbolic of the situation we're going through at the moment". The FCSG coach was all the more pleased that his charges did not allow themselves to be rattled after the cold shower. Because: "Of course, we then faced an opponent that was even deeper. That was grueling for us."
Deep opponents as a compliment
However, this is nothing new for the team from Eastern Switzerland this season. "It's also a compliment to us, what we achieved in the early stages of the season, that every team now lines up deep against us," believes Maassen. Görtler agrees: "It's a sign of strength that teams stand very deep against us because they have respect for keeping the game open. The trick, of course, is to be successful against deep-lying opponents."
This has not always been as successful in the recent past as it was in Northern Ireland. "We've always tried to shift, to move the opponent back and forth and still have to be a little self-critical with ourselves, also that we can simply play out many situations better," said defender Albert Vallci. "We can be even more consistent on the ball in the final zone - in the final pass, in finishing, in duels and above all in the box."
Will Geubbels be out?
For coach Maassen, one thing is clear: "The supreme discipline in football is to play deep opponents and not catch any yourself. And we can really practise that now and have already practised it properly in recent weeks."
Captain Görtler has played a key role in this development - and personally initiated the turnaround in Belfast with his remarkable equalizer. "I made up my mind today that I wouldn't leave the pitch if we didn't win. I told the lads at half-time, there's nothing else today, there are no excuses today," said the goalscorer, adding: "We're over the moon. But we don't need to hang it too high either."
For one thing, it should be St.Gallen's aim to hold their own against such opponents. And secondly, the three points may come at a high price. "Willem Geubbels got injured and will probably be out. That was directly in his head for the next game," explains Maassen. "But yes, we play every three days, the frequency is incredibly high. That's why we have to take these moments and be happy."
