7pm 22 July 2017
Switzerland, Super League
Lausanne-Sport 3 St Gallen 3 (att 3,415)
My first truly competitive football of the season, aided by an early start for Switzerland's top divisions and a home fixture for Lausanne, close enough to our French Alpine holiday base to make it an easy trip.
Lausanne's Olympic Stadium is a short bus ride north of the attractive city centre, and the early evening kick off gave us time to see a bit more of Lausanne than just the stadium.
For a few moments I though I'd struggle to get inside to see the game. As I was only in Switzerland for a few hours I hadn't changed much money, and my few Swiss Francs weren't enough to buy tickets for the game.
Remarkably the ticket booths didn't accept card payments, so I had to follow directions to the nearest cash machine, luckily not far away. Sixty Swiss Francs, about £50, bought two tickets for what turned out to be a terrific match.
Lausanne took an early lead, a little against the run of play, which what was apparently the opening goal of the 2017/18 Swiss Super League season. St Gallen's equaliser was deserved, and they scored again to lead 2-1 by half time.
A third goal early in the second half looked to have settled things, and St Gallen had chances to go even further ahead. They paid the price for not taking them, when two quick goals for the hosts midway through the half levelled the score. Both teams had opportunities to score again, but surprisingly there were no more goals.
Lausanne-Sport's stadium, the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, was opened in the early 1900s. It's been revamped since then of course, but it still has more character than most modern box-like stadiums, despite a running track separating spectators from the action.
Home supporters were spread around the two main stands on either side of the pitch, while St Gallen's noisy following - who deserve respect for singing non-stop, even as their side let it's two goal lead slip - were in a covered section behind the goal.
Switzerland, Super League
Lausanne-Sport 3 St Gallen 3 (att 3,415)
My first truly competitive football of the season, aided by an early start for Switzerland's top divisions and a home fixture for Lausanne, close enough to our French Alpine holiday base to make it an easy trip.
Lausanne's Olympic Stadium is a short bus ride north of the attractive city centre, and the early evening kick off gave us time to see a bit more of Lausanne than just the stadium.
For a few moments I though I'd struggle to get inside to see the game. As I was only in Switzerland for a few hours I hadn't changed much money, and my few Swiss Francs weren't enough to buy tickets for the game.
Remarkably the ticket booths didn't accept card payments, so I had to follow directions to the nearest cash machine, luckily not far away. Sixty Swiss Francs, about £50, bought two tickets for what turned out to be a terrific match.
Lausanne took an early lead, a little against the run of play, which what was apparently the opening goal of the 2017/18 Swiss Super League season. St Gallen's equaliser was deserved, and they scored again to lead 2-1 by half time.
A third goal early in the second half looked to have settled things, and St Gallen had chances to go even further ahead. They paid the price for not taking them, when two quick goals for the hosts midway through the half levelled the score. Both teams had opportunities to score again, but surprisingly there were no more goals.
Lausanne-Sport's stadium, the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, was opened in the early 1900s. It's been revamped since then of course, but it still has more character than most modern box-like stadiums, despite a running track separating spectators from the action.
Home supporters were spread around the two main stands on either side of the pitch, while St Gallen's noisy following - who deserve respect for singing non-stop, even as their side let it's two goal lead slip - were in a covered section behind the goal.
Comments
Post a Comment