The first day of the tournament to stay in the National League B gives a disappointment to FC Lugano Femminile, beaten by a narrow margin and in the final by Küssnacht a/R. For the team led by Giorgio Fransioli, the positive streak that had lasted four games (two draws and two wins) thus ends.
UNTAPPED CHANCES AND FINAL MOCKERY
The duel at the Sportanlage Luterbach turns out to be the classic contested between Ticino and svittesi. As happened a month ago, the HCL women struggle to play the ball with fluidity and fail to "move" their opponents from their positions. During the first fraction, the guests created at least three quite sensational dangerous situations, but they did not translate them into the net. At the turn of the halftime break, the system of play is changed and ball handling improves. Until Antonella Albertini's expulsion for protests (56′), which literally cuts the legs off her teammates and reflexively changes the game-plan that was working well. Afterwards, and despite the numerical inferiority, the Lugano women came closer to scoring a goal than to cashing it in. In the 89th minute, however, Vanessa Tran set off from the midfield and made a fifty-meter ball-and-foot ride toward the goal without opposition from the five opposing players placed in front of her. Thus is recorded the final mockery, when the situation seemed to be channeling on a division of the stakes.
RANKING GETTING SHORTER AND SHORTER
The setback suffered in Central Switzerland keeps the Ticinese in sixth place in the standings on 19 points, two points behind fifth-ranked Oerlikon/Polizei ZH and with a minimal margin over Wil (18), which went on to conquer the ground of the leading Étoile Carouge. Solothurn closes the standings with 16 points. At the end of this second phase, the top six retain their place in the category, while the last two relegate to the First League.
BEFORE EASTER IN CANOBBIO
The next appointment for the HCL girls is scheduled for Saturday, April 19, 2025. At 6:30 p.m., at the Maglio in Canobbio, the duel with the Zurich-based Winterthur, veterans of the poker inflicted in the derby against Oerlikon/Polizei, will take place.
COACH FRANSIOLI'S ANALYSIS: 'WE HAVE TO PLAY FOR OUR LIVES'
"It is a shame to go out of this challenge without points, because we have more quality than Küssnacht. However, we failed to put them on the field, and the mistake made by Antonella Albertini sank the team. The expulsion is heavy, especially considering that the yellow cards were reset. Therefore, I had asked the girls not to go and protest unnecessarily. I accept the caution for a game foul, but a red card like that is not. It has been since July that the girls have been making huge sacrifices and deserve to retain the category. I am convinced that we will succeed in the end. However, we need to be more desperate and play for our lives always and everywhere. On this occasion, I did not see the two aspects just mentioned. It is clear that no one will give us anything and therefore, I repeat, we must take the field against anyone for our life".
