Sion clear second in championship

Robert (centre) and his teammates weren't able to hold back Sion Keystone

Sion has maintained its second place in the league table after beating Geneva's Servette 3-2.

Servette were already facing an uphill fight against their opponents despite their home ground advantage. Key players such as Fournier, Thurre and Comisetti, all injured, were missing from the lineup.

Sion were also short of an important player, their Frenchman Poueys who was suspended.

The Geneva team got the best start with their hard play, scoring the only goal of the first half thanks to Lonfat, who scored in the 31st minute. The second part of the game was a different picture.

Sion came roaring back after the break. Ojong drew the two teams level in the 56th minute, before Moreira put the visitors ahead.

Servette was able to get back in the match thanks to Robert in the 73rd minute, but the locals’ efforts were all for naught though in stoppage time. M’Futi, who joined the game halfway through the second period, broke through to score the winning goal in 91st.

St Gallen struggle

St Gallen fell behind Sion at the Brüggifeld. The locals, who could lose their defender Zellweger to German team Cologne, dropped two points drawing against bottom-feeders Lucerne.

The team from central Switzerland even pushed St Gallen close to the brink. Lucerne scored first in the 61st minute thanks to Gian, and the locals were only able to pull even in the last 60 seconds with a goal from Jairo.

Basel confirmed its league leadership with a small one-nil victory over Aarau. Koumantakaris’ goal also made the locals the first team to qualify for the final round of the championship.

Lausanne lose again

Zurich’s Grasshoppers enjoyed a comfortable away victory against wooden-spooners Lausanne, winning 4-2. The first 16 minutes of the game provided most of the fireworks with three goals.

Cabanas opened the proceedings, scoring in the third minute. Lausanne responded to this first strike just two minutes later thanks to Simon, before Benjamin put the visitors ahead again in the 16th minute.

Grasshoppers reinforced their dominance of the match when their Uruguayan Nunez scored his team’s third goal after a quarter of an hour in the second period. A Leandro penalty allowed Lausanne to get a smell of a draw in the 87th minute, but the visitors shut the door with Petric scoring.

Basel leads the standings with 37 points after 19 matches, with Sion second on 33 and St Gallen third on 31. Zurich is eighth, still in the hunt for the final round, one point ahead of ninth-placed Aarau, and three in front of Neuchâtel Xamax.

swissinfo with agencies