Swiss Challenge League
Stade de Genève, Geneva
Admission: CHF 20
Programme: Free
Attendance: 2,315
Match Rating: 3
I usually go on a brief groundhopping focused trip within Europe in the autumn, and this time I decided to head for western Switzerland, flying in this morning and after a very enjoyable if exhausting walk around the attractive city and waterfront of Geneva, I headed for this match in the second tier of Swiss football, kicking off at 8pm.
The Stade de Genève is about a twenty minute tram ride southwards from Geneva Cornavin train station, followed by a ten minute walk along a busy dual carriageway, just beyond and adjacent to a large shopping centre, as well as a flyover. Ticket booths are available outside the stadium, although I bought my print-at-home ticket in advance, and a small table was selling a limited amount of club merchandise. The stadium is a fairly typical stadium built in the 21st century, all-seater all around, and occasionally hosts international fixtures. With a capacity of just over 30,000, it is a shame that Servette, one of the great names of Swiss football, struggle to fill a tenth of its capacity, and the only areas of the ground open for Servette matches are along one length, which has corporate boxes above the seating and a level for the media above that, and behind one goal, where I chose to sit and where, unsurprisingly, the more vocal supporters congregate. Indeed, they gave their team excellent support throughout, making up for the small crowd present this evening. Small glossy programmes were handed out free of charge around the stadium and were attractively designed and contained the essential facts.
Only one place separated this evening’s teams, although there were ten points between them. Servette came into this game in third place, with 23 points from their opening ten league games, and a point adrift of the leaders and sole promotions berth. FC Vaduz, from Liechtenstein, and who were relegated from the top flight last season, were in fourth place in the ten team division, with 13 points from their 10 league games.
On a mild evening following a warm, sunny evening, Servette got off to a great start, opening the scoring on 5 minutes. The ball was swung over high from the right to the left hand side of the penalty area, Alexandre Alphonse took a couple of touches before passing the ball for Steven Long to back heel it first time, and the ball found its way just inside the near post. That was something of a false dawn for Servette however, as the visitors did much more of the attacking, and although they rarely looked convincing in the final third, but they did force some very good saves from the home keeper, most notable on 35 minutes when a first time shot by Niels Von Niederhäusen from 8 yards drew a brilliant reflex save from the keeper. After a great start, Servette certainly did not push on from there and they held a slender one goal half time lead.
Into the second half and the game rather meandered along, with Vaduz not carrying the same attacking intent as they had before the break, and Servette seemed to coast along content with their lead. But they doubled their lead on 73 minutes. A Vaduz player sloppily gave away possession in midfield to Willie, who laid the ball to Long, who took a few touches forward before curling a low shot from just outside of the area into the net via the inside of the post. The closest Vaduz came to pulling a goal back was just as the game entered added on time when a powerful header following a corner hit the keeper in the chest. But it was not to be and despite Vaduz having more shots, it felt like a victory that Servette deserved, with a little more quality despite this being a far from convincing display.
Video highlights of this match can be found by clicking here.
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