Flurry of goals in initial matches of top division football

Servette Geneva's Alexandre Rey celebrates after scoring three goals on the way to victory over Neuchatel Xamax Keystone

Sankt Gallen blew away Lausanne 3-1 on Friday evening putting them one point ahead of the pack in Switzerland's top division. Servette Geneva blasted to victory against Neuchatel Xamax with an impressive 5-2 final score.

Just five days ahead of their Champions League showdown with Galatasaray of Istanbul, Sankt Gallen leapt to the top of Switzerland’s first division, with their triumph over Lausanne.

An opening in the defense gave Sankt Gallen its first goal of the evening, with Gane scoring in the 44th minute before the 9,000 spectators at Espenmoos. The equalizer for Lausanne came courtesy of Kuzba, eight minutes later.

Then a successful penalty for Sankt Gallen put them in the lead, thanks to a fine goal by Jairo. Ten minutes before the final whistle, he drove the ball home again, wrapping the match up 3-1. For the losing side, it was the second defeat of the season.

Meanwhile, at Charmilles, the stadium’s 3,000 spectators were regaled with no less than five goals by Servette within the first 45 minutes of play against Neuchatel Xamax.

The latter were goal-less throughout the entire first half. The star of the show was Rey, who found the net in the 21st, 24th and 37th minutes, in an awe-inspiring match for Servette. As far as the losing side were concerned, Koch provided Neuchatel Xamax with the only two goals of the match, both of them penalty shots.

As the national championships began their fifth day, Sankt Gallen edged ahead of Basel, Lausanne, Lugano and Sion – who are all level with nine points – to score a tenth point. Servette Geneva, for its part, lifted itself to sixth place in the rankings, with all of seven point.

Sankt Gallen’s lead position in the league may well be short-lived, however. On Saturday, the other top division teams play their next round matches, with Aarau playing Zurich, Grasshoppers versus Lucerne, Lugano facing up to Sion and Yverdon up against Basel.

swissinfo with agencies