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First blood to Zurich in season opener

Keita (left) beats the St Gallen goalkeeper Stöckli for the second time Keystone

With the World Cup still fresh in people's minds, the Swiss football championship has already kicked off for a new season, with an away victory for Zurich.

Because of European commitments, Zurich and St Gallen had the honour of launching the season at the Espenmoos stadium in front of 8,000 spectators.

Zurich put the pressure on early in the match, with their Guinean striker Alhassane Keita hitting the post after 19 minutes.

Zurich were not to be denied though, and Swiss midfielder Daniel Tarone had the honour of scoring the season’s first goal on a penalty shot 10 minutes later. Keita made better use of his next opportunity, scoring in the 36th minute after pouncing on a ball dropped by St Gallen’s goalkeeper, Oliver Stöckli.

The Guinean was to strike again less than 10 minutes from full-time, when Stöckli sent a ball straight back at him outside the penalty box area. He then steered the leather past Stöckli.

St Gallen had virtually no chances of scoring in this 0-3 home loss. The best opportunity came shortly after Zurich scored their first goal. Jairo Luiz Filho narrowly missed scoring from a close-range free kick.

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