St. Gallen survives the craziest football game of the year
FC St. Gallen looks like the sure winner in the Conference League duel with Slask Breslau after 21 minutes. But wild minutes cause the game to completely flip before halftime. After that, it gets really chaotic and extremely heated.
In the local league, you might see such wild games more often, but in professional football? Not so much. Swiss club FC St. Gallen survives an extremely turbulent evening in the third round of the Conference League against Polish club Slask Breslau. After a match with 24 minutes of extra time, three red cards, and the VAR in constant use (yes, that's not in the local league), it ends 3:2. Swiss tabloid "Blick" is amazed by one of the "craziest games in the Europa Cup".
The signs were good for the Swiss. They went into the second leg with a 2:0 lead from the first leg and took an early lead. In the 21st minute, Bastien Toma scored 1:0, making St. Gallen's lead very comfortable. The Poles had scored earlier, but the VAR disallowed the goal. Breslau captain Alex Petkov had impeded goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi.
Six catastrophic minutes for St. Gallen
Before halftime, the game takes a surprising turn. In six minutes, the Poles score three goals. Petr Schwarz starts with a bizarre rolling goal (41.), then Piotr Samiec-Talar scores with a wonderful curling shot (43.), and Petkov (45.+2) makes it three. Suddenly, the game is level. Since the away goals rule no longer exists, everything is open again.
But that's not the end of the turbulence. In the second half, there is a racist incident. Goalkeeper Ati Zigi complains several times about monkey chants directed at him. The referee indicates that the match will be abandoned if there are more incidents. A fan suspected of making the noises is eventually escorted out of the stadium.
Next up: Petkov goes down in the penalty area (76.), the referee awards a penalty. But after the VAR intervenes, he changes his decision to a dive and shows the Polish captain a second yellow card, i.e., a red card. "Blick" is puzzled. In their analysis, they say: "But to warn Petkov for a second time for a supposed dive is completely out of place, indeed wrong. Because the captain of the Poles is clearly fouled by Stevanovic."
Penalty in the 108th minute is retaken
In the 11th minute of extra time, teammate Matias Nahuel also sees red. He had the ball at his hand from close range. It takes five minutes of video review before a penalty is awarded. Christian Witzig steps up - and misses. But the VAR intervenes again. Polish goalkeeper Rafal Leszczynski had moved off the line too early. The penalty is retaken. This time, Willem Geubbels scores. He makes it 2:3 for the Swiss, making it 4:3. St. Gallen celebrates.
But the game is not over yet. Arnau Oritz sees a second yellow card, then a red card for dissent in the 22nd minute of extra time. Two minutes later, it's finally over. In the next round, the team of former Augsburg and BVB II coach Enrico Maaßen will face Trabzonspor.
The Commission reviewed the incident involving goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi and Breslau captain Alex Petkov, determining that Petkov had impeded Zigi, leading to the disallowed goal. Despite the chaos and turbulence, The Commission upheld the decision, ensuring justice was served in the match.
