In St. Gallen, Switzerland finally picked up its first point against Denmark (2-2) in the Nations League after its three defeats in the first three matches.
Even if Serbia lost 3-0 in Córdoba against Spain, this draw is a very bad deal for Murat Yakin’s team. They must now win by three goals on November 15 in Zurich against Serbia to have a reasonable chance of escaping direct relegation.
Betrayed once again by its defense, Switzerland perhaps did not deserve to win this third meeting of the year against Denmark after the 0-0 draw and the 2-0 defeat in Copenhagen. Even if she led the score twice thanks to Remo Freuler and Zeki Amdouni, she paid a certain price for a collective game which suffers from comparison with that developed this summer at the Euro.
Winning choices
A four-man defense for the first time this year and three changes made compared to Saturday’s lineup in Leskovac: Murat Yakin had announced a change and he kept his word. At the break, the coach’s choices were winning with the contribution of Edimilson Fernandes and Ulisses Garcia on the sides and the midfield dynamism of Fabian Rieder. Fernandes was, thus, at the origin of Remo Freuler’s opening score in the 26th while Garcia demonstrated a real edge on the left flank, just behind Dan Ndoye always capable of bringing this little grain of madness that can change everything.
Unhappy for 44 minutes at the forefront of the attack, Breel Embolo had the immense merit of causing, with a certain malice, the penalty for 2-1. He was unstoppably transformed by Zeki Amdouni. We now dare to hope that the Genevan, if he is on the field, will indeed be the No. 1 hitter in the selection in the future. At 23, the Benfica striker has already established himself as a master in the field.
The big downside of this first period was, once again, a defense that was suffering. It has actually become very easy to score against this post-Euro Swiss team. Gustav Isaksen’s equalizer a few seconds after Freuler’s goal is almost a video gag. After a foul called against Nico Elvedi, Granit Xhaka returned the ball too quickly to allow Eriksen to complete a lobbed pass for Isaksen. Quicker than Elvedi who can no longer mask his lack of explosiveness, the Lazio player armed a shot which flew between the legs of Gregor Kobel. The first clean sheet in the selection of the Dortmund goalkeeper will still have to wait…
>> Also read: Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer and Fabian Schär honored, A frustrating draw according to Ulisses Garcia et Portugal loses its first points in Scotland
ats/efas
