Yverdon knock out Swiss Cup holders

Yverdon striker Gil (left) celebrates his match-winning goal Keystone

As Basel welcomed thousands of supporters to their new superstadium on Thursday, lowly Yverdon were making headlines of their own - knocking Swiss Cup holders FC Zurich out of the tournament in front of just 650 fans.

Taking a break from their struggle against relegation, the team from canton Vaud brought top division high fliers and Swiss Cup holders FC Zurich crashing back down to earth, thanks to a single late goal.

Nine minutes were left to play when 20-year-old Brazilian striker Gil put the ball past Swiss international goalkeeper Marco Pascolo to send Yverdon into the quarter-finals.

League leaders St Gallen made a bad start to their match against Fribourg, conceding a goal to their third division opponents after just seven minutes. Unlike FC Zurich, though, the team from east Switzerland had plenty of time to recover in style.

Two goals each from new strikers Jefferson and Ivan Stefanovic, along with strikes from Dino Pinnelli, Sascha Müller and Giorgio Contini, saw St Gallen wrap up a more than comfortable 7-1 victory.

In Thursday’s remaining Swiss Cup match, Servette Geneva had an unexpectedly tough time against the amateurs of Biasca, before finally winning through 3-1.

The top division side edged ahead in the 17th minute through Goran Obradovic, but only after the Yugoslavian forward had appeared to control the ball with his hand.

In the 53rd minute Servette doubled their lead with a goal from Paulo Diogo, but Biasca responded just ten minutes later, Quatrale making it 2-1. But thoughts of another upset were banished with a quarter of an hour to go when Swiss international Sébastien Fournier scored the final goal of the night.

swissinfo with agencies