The Xamaxiens fished for the finish on Friday night on the Schaffhausen side. Neuchâtel Xamax lost 2-0 in German-speaking territory during the 3e soccer challenge league championship day.
Quality first half
Without sick Raphaël Nuzzolo and moving to the German-Swiss border, Neuchâtel Xamax had a little pressure, following two defeats in as many games, at the start of the Challenge League championship. Facing her, a team from Schaffhausen which also remained on a bitter 5-1 disappointment at Lausanne Sport and therefore, the possibility for the Neuchâtel residents to cast doubt on the team of coach and former Swiss international, Hakan Yakin. The Xamaxians have also quickly confirmed this possibility, starting this game perfectly thanks to a first half of quality, serious and convincing (probably the best half since the start of this championship). Unfortunately, the “red and black” once once more failed to finish on Friday evening, with no less than four clear chances during this first half (Del Toro 1x, Koide by 2x including a post and Ouhfasa 1x), without that none materializes with a goal. Andrea Binotto’s men would have clearly deserved to go back to the locker room with the advantage on the Wefox Arena scoreboard, but the Xamaxian coach was not looking for excuses, compared to this lack of precision in the last gesture :
Cursed 57e minute
The Xamaxiens returned with the same intentions in the second half, showing themselves threatening in front of the cage of Francesco Ruberto, the last bastion of FC Schaffhausen but once is not custom, without succeeding in concluding. And what had to happen, happened with this famous 57e minute and a somewhat innocuous foul by Fatkic who was warned for the blow but above all offered a free kick from 25 meters that Gonzalez was going to exploit to score 1-0 for Schaffhausen, in a Xamaxian wall probably a little disjointed. This opener broke the enthusiasm of the “red and black” and despite the changes made by coach Andrea Binotto, Neuchâtel Xamax did not manage to pick up the score once morest Hakan Yakin’s men who, for their part, mastered their subject by breaking the rhythm at times and even scoring a second goal in the 84e minute by Cherny entered during the game, following one of the rare bad reminders of the Xamaxian defense, it must be specified. The Xamaxian midfielder, Alexandre Pasche remained confident, despite this new bitter defeat:
Neuchâtel Xamax once once more proved to be too imprecise in the last gesture and Schaffhausen was quick to take advantage of it. The “red and black” unfortunately remain stuck in last place in the Challenge League football standings with this third consecutive defeat in as many games and will host Yverdon on Friday August 5 in a Lake derby which should serve as a trigger for the Xamaxiens. /sdu-dje
Schaffhouse – Neuchâtel Xamax 2-0 (0-0)
Wefox Arena: 1206 spectators.
Referee: M. San Fedayi
Buts : 57e Gonzalez 1-0. 84e Cherny 2-0. Note: 16th shot on Koide’s post.
Other results: Yverdon – Thun 3-1. Aarau-Lausanne 1-2.
Ranking : 1. Yverdon 3/7 (8-5). 2. Lausanne-Sport 3/6 (7-3). 3. Schaffhausen 3/6 (4-5). 4. Bellinzona 2/4 (2-1). 5. Aarau 3/4 (4-4). 6. Will 2/3 (3-2). 7. Lausanne-Ouchy Stadium 2/3 (3-3). 8. Vaduz 2/2 (4-4). 9. Thun 3/1 (2-5). 10. Neuchâtel Xamax FCS 3/0 (1-6).
