Grasshoppers miss chance to take league lead

Martin Petrov (left) and Johann Lonfat scored two of Servette's goals Keystone

Zurich Grasshoppers missed an opportunity to take over top spot in the Swiss football first division, after losing 3-1 to Servette Geneva on Wednesday.

Servette took the lead through Lionel Pizzinat in the sixth minute, and Johann Lonfat doubled the lead before the break, scoring in the 40th minute.

Servette extended their lead through the Bulgarian, Martin Petrov, in the 55th minute, but Grasshoppers scored a consolation goal 20 minutes later, thanks to Bernt Haas.

Grasshoppers remain in third position with 29 points behing Lugano and St Gallen.

In another Wednesday match, Lucerne got off to a good start taking the lead against lowly Yverdon through Blaise N’Kufo in the 10th minute.

But that was to prove Lucerne’s last moment of celebration of the evening. Yverdon drew level with a Josemar Gil goal in the 27th minute.

In the second half, Yverdon sealed victory thanks to Piero Constantino in the 73rd minute and Steve Gohouri in the 85th minutes.

Sion managed to come away from Aarau with a 1-1 draw. Aara took the lead in the 34th minute with a David Bader goal but Sion levelled through a last-minute strike by Marc Hottiger.

Meanwhile, in the National B league, Young Boys of Berne became the first side to secure promotion to the championship round, beating local rivals Thun by an emphatic 8-2 scoreline.

swissinfo with agencies