A case for the psychologist? FCZ once again let a draw slip away in the final minutes against Sion
Keystone
Saturday’s Super League matches confirm the trend once again with Thun’s next win and Zurich’s shortcomings in the closing stages. The series of late goals conceded by FCZ is taking on almost grotesque proportions.
While Thun kept their balance in the Stockhorn Arena even on snow-covered terrain and turned a 0:1 into a 5:1 against Grasshoppers, FC Zurich’s negative streak is becoming increasingly absurd. For the third time in a row and for what felt like the umpteenth time in recent weeks, the Zurich side let a goal slip from their grasp in the closing stages.
Kreshnik Hajrizi scored in the 85th minute to give FC Sion a 2-1 away win at the Letzigrund on Saturday. FCZ have now lost no fewer than 15 points this season due to goals conceded after the 80th minute, quite a few of them in recent games. Before Sion, who had previously failed to win away from home nine times, Servette (Junior Kadile in the 88th minute), who had been winless seven times, and Lausanne-Sport (Karim Sow in the 92nd minute), who had been winless in nine competitive matches, also scored late goals to make it 2-1 in March.
In February, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Salah turned a 0:1 into a 2:1 for FC Basel from the 90th minute, in January Shaqiri scored in the 94th minute to make it 4:3. In December, Christopher Ibayi and Fabio Fehr scored from the 85th minute to make it 4:2 for Thun, Kevin Behrens in the 91st minute to make it 1:0 for Lugano and Roman Buess in the 91st minute to make it 2:2 for Winterthur.
They also conceded goals after the 80th minute against Young Boys (two in a 3-0 defeat on February 1, one in a 3-0 defeat on March 1), against Grasshoppers (one in a 2-1 derby win on February 21, one in a 3-0 defeat on October 4), against Servette (one in a 2-1 win on September 13), against Winterthur (one in a 3-1 win on August 30) and against Thun (one in a 4-0 defeat on August 23). Crazy.
“It feels like I can say the same thing week after week – they’re always close games. In each of the last three games, we can go out with a draw, three times there’s a last-minute defeat. That paints a completely different picture, it’s frustrating,” said coach Dennis Hediger after the defeat against Sion. A journalist asked whether they were considering calling in a sports psychologist. Hediger’s answer: “Of course we’re determined to break the streak. We have to be honest with ourselves, but we also simply have to defend more consistently.”