The third consecutive double by Yannis Ryter - who has since climbed to 11 personal seals - launches Lugano U21 to victory in Bulle. The 2-0 win in Gruyère allows the young HCLers to get back above the line with ninety minutes left in the championship.
TWO CHANGES IN THE INITIAL LINE-UP
Unlike last Saturday's bitter setback against Vevey-Sports of Vaud, coach Andrea Vitali makes only two changes in the starting eleven for the challenge at the Stade de Bouleyres. In place of Dion Dermaku and Damiano Plisko, Nicola Gamba and Gianluca Pizzagalli regain their places as starters, with the latter returning from the suspension shift imposed on him due to reaching the minimum quota of yellow cards.
DEPARTURE WITH IMMEDIATE OPPORTUNITIES
Only two laps of the clock elapsed and the HCL players approached the adversary's goal with a conclusion from twenty meters by Ryter that, lightly touched by a Fribourg player, rose venomously and broke on the crossbar. Such is the attitude of the Ticinese that in the fifth minute David Piffero is knocked down inside the "D" by Ludovic Delley, who incurs the first yellow card of the sunny afternoon. The following free kick by Ilija Maslarov produced no danger to Killian Ropraz. The control of operations is Lugano and it is still up to role center forward Piffero to try his luck. This time, his diagonal "safe shot" is providentially deflected by the toe of the home defender. #7 continued his approach to the goal mirror on the quarter-hour mark with a header just wide.
TWO CHANCES GIVEN IN THE FIRST PHASE
The locals - mathematically safe after the last round played last weekend - seem unwilling to pick up the pace and struggle to get out of their half of the field, looking more for quick restarts than anything else, always starting with a ball and foot from the bottom. Credit for this is the excellent pressure brought by their contractors. When the diocio-eighth passes, a long throw to Nick Berger sends more than a shiver down Diego Mina's spine. The striker's left-footed shot, also passed by Thun and Kriens, goes out by a whisker, causing the Sottocenerini to breathe a sigh of relief. A precise and clean return by Pizzagalli on Berger, who was ready to kick one-on-one with Mina in the 32nd, avoided the worst.
"THE GREAT BEAUTY" ON THE END OF FRACTION
As the clock quickly slips toward the conclusion of the first period, Ryter chooses the best way to return to the locker room with a smile on his face. The Solothurn-based fantasist decides that the moment to unlock the contest has arrived and with a stupendous diagonal right-footed shot to the far post's cross, he gifts the audience in attendance with a goal of rare beauty. The well-deserved point of the lead is subsequently preserved for another one hundred and twenty seconds until the double whistle of match director Jonathan Monnin.
RETURN WITHOUT CHANGE AND DOUBLING IN THE AIR
No substitutions are recorded following the classic fifteen-minute break. Nor does the attitude of the HCL players change one iota. Thus, after a free kick by Ryter cleared on the line in the dive by the red and white goalkeeper, the same offensive element again rises to the fore, taking advantage of a recovery by Nicola Gamba in his own three-quarter. Advancing ball to foot, the fullback assists the ex-Basilea, who, for his part, makes the "horses" of his body count on the left flank, engages the top gear and, once he arrives in front of Ropraz, cold him with a diagonal low shot. It is just past the hour of play and the Luganois can thus experience a somewhat quieter last phase of the encounter.
ANOTHER UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITY, THEN THE END
Coach Vitali's protégés continue to show an interesting maneuver and with Piffero they even go close to the tic-tac-toe. After receiving the ball from an omnipresent Ryter, the striker who arrived in winter from the U21 of Young Boys dribbles an opponent inside the sixteen meters, however, being bricked by Ropraz. In the 21-year-old's defense there is the deflected position of the shot. After that, until the triple final whistle there was only one intervention by Mina to save a more than deserved "clean sheet" for the young HCL players.
NOW IT'S ALL IN HCL HANDS
Thanks to this very important full post added to its own meatpack, the second HCL team rises to 36, back above the red line. Zurich U21 and Delémont have so far obtained the same points as Andrea Maccoppi and his mates, but they are in 18th and 17th position because of a worse goal-difference (-11 the Tigurins, -9 the Jurassians and -7 the Ticino). All will therefore be decided "from a distance" in six days.
LAST ENGAGEMENT ON FRIENDLY GROUND
The curtain will come down on the Hoval Promotion League season on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Lugano U21 will close the circle of matches by hosting the already saved Young Boys U21 at the Al Maglio Sports Center in Canobbio. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m., simultaneous with all other matches as tradition dictates.
MISTER VITALI'S ANALYSIS: "ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES"
"It was one of the best performances provided by the boys. I am super-happy for them because they never give up and always give everything they have in them. Even in Bulle we started the challenge with intensity, that's the way we play in that we want to channel the game the way we prepare it. Then, it doesn't always go the way you think. Now, we have a chance to play for salvation on the last day with Young Boys U21. The team is having a good finish to the season, and the disappointment is solely for a few missteps that recently denied us winning a few more points. This lies in the growth path of the group. We prepare the last week with our usual grit, and despite a better goal-difference than Zurich U21 and Delémont, we must think only of ourselves and win the duel with the yellow-and-whites in front of our public".
FC BULLE-FC LUGANO U21 0-2 (0-1)
Stade de Bouleyres, 437 spectators.
Networks: 44′ Ryter 0-1, 61′ Ryter 0-2.
Admonished: 5′ Delley, 65′ Kuzmanović, 89′ Chaibi, 90′ +4′ Daf, 90′ +4′ Gecaj.
FC Bulle: Ropraz; Delley (75′ Chaibi), Kuzmanović (75′ Onkony), Sumbula, Wild; Mulliqi, Makoubé Ebongué (75′ Guerin), Bürgisser (35′ Daf), Aguilar; Petignat, Berger (60′ Gasser). Coach: Miere.
FC Lugano U21: Mina; Gamba, Gecaj, Molino; Maccoppi; Pizzagalli, Morandi, Maslarov (86′ Ronchetti), Peverelli; Ryter (80′ Spinelli); Piffero. Coach: Vitali.
Referee: Monnin. Assistants: Rossier and Hunziker.
