In an unspectacular Zurich derby, emotions only boiled over after the final whistle. While the scenes in the blue Sport Studio caused a lack of understanding, FCZ were annoyed by two red cards.
Zurich football fans were in for a real treat this Saturday evening at the Letzigrund. In the end, those rooting for FC Zurich are likely to be more pleased. The latter won the match against GC 1:0 thanks to Lindrit Kamberi's goal in the first half.
The scenes after the final whistle are much more talked about than the game itself. When referee Urs Schnyder makes FCZ's victory official, the players on the substitutes' benches suddenly start attacking each other. The two FCZ players Livano Comenencia and Jahnoah Markelo, who can hardly contain themselves, play the leading role.
After tempers have calmed down, they are the two who have to go to Schnyder - Comenencia sees yellow-red, Markelo the straight red card.
What caused the scuffle? "Markelo provokes completely unnecessarily after the game. He shouts at the players on our substitutes' bench. That's undisciplined," GC coach Gerald Scheiblehner told blue Sport after the game.
"Aggressive and confrontational"
"We didn't need that now," says blue Sport expert Rolf Fringer. "It's completely unnecessary, you almost forget that Zurich deserved to win."
"Dennis Hediger will go crazy tonight. There are two players who see red when you've won 1-0. They did everything right and then they lose two players like that," Pascal Zuberbühler is also annoyed.
"It will certainly hurt us that we won't have these players available," FCZ coach Dennis Hediger agreed with the blue Sport experts. He himself did not see how the scuffle came about. It was a hard-fought derby, but not an unfair one. "It had everything a derby needs."
Refereeing expert Bruno Grossen praised the refereeing team led by Urs Schnyder afterwards: "They handled it excellently and in that sense without VAR." The direct red card against Markelo was justified because, as a substituted player, he was still part of the game and he went "aggressively and confrontationally towards the opponent's technical zone".
