Young Boys 2 FC Luzern 1

What better way to break up the annual Fasnacht celebrations then a trip to the modern, but soulless ‘Stade de Suisse’ aka Wankdorf stadium in Bern? On recent form we even had a realistic chance for at least a draw.

Thanks to A1 motorway traffic and the less than helpful Wankdorf private secutity militia we managed to miss the first goal from Diving Doumbia. There was however no doubt amongst our fellow fans that this was a cheap tap-in after a defensive error. When the same prolific diver/scorer made it two after 20 minutes we were fearing the worst. That Doumbia then celebrated the goal by running in the direction of the away fans did not exactly help. In most countries this is a certain yellow card, not here. Although to be honest quite a few in the visiting sector would probably have preferred that the security net was lowered so we could cover him with cups of low alcohol stadium beer and the overcooked and generally unpleasant YB wurst.

The FCL defence was now  in big trouble. The unfamiliar plastic pitch probably made it worse but it was clear that this area remains the weakest link for us this season. The few good attacks we managed to create were all based on the Yakin – Chiumento partnership. Hakan now seems to actively look for Davide as soon as he gets the ball. Despite this YB were deservedly in the lead at half-time.

Second half was another story. We came out a completely different team from the first minute. The FCL midfield went in hard for every loose ball and pretty much won them all. When we had possession we kept it until we got a shot on goal. It was a a remarkable turnaround and arguably the most impressive football we have played away from home in the whole season. Though unfortunately as poor as we were defending in the first half we were at finishing in the second. By the time Paiva had replaced Ianu we had at least six clear goal scoring opportunities – including an amazing (and unlikely) Maradona like slalom through the YB defence by Claudio.

When the Portugese finally managed to score it felt almost unreal after so many near misses. Despite three minutes added time and a great team effort all the way to the end we did not manage to get the ball in again.

The entire Luzern left side, especially Chiumento and Lustenberger had a great second half. Zibung made two great saves when we were chasing the equaliser. Kukeli’s constant hard work and Paivas attitude coming on has also got to be praised.

As much as I hate losing when we clearly don’t deserve to I still feel proud to be behind a team that tries and almost manages to turn it around with a positive attitude and a creative passing game.

We are coming for you YB and Basel, and you know it. If not this season then in the next.

Next game is Bellinzona at home and then Aarau away. Ideally these games needs to yield six points to protect our third spot.

Due to work related travel I will not be able to go to any of those games so if anyone wants to send me pictures/ comments/ match reports I would be more than happy to post them here.

Hopp Lozarn!