CAROUGE. Switzerland prevails over Northern Ireland with a 2-0 win with a goal from S. Zuber (45′) and a goal from C. Fassnacht (90′). Its vastly superior ball possession (72%) was among the key factors of its victory.
The match was played at the Stade de Genève stadium in Carouge on Saturday and it started at 6:45 pm local time. The referee was Slavko Vinčić who had the assistance of Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič. The 4th official was David Smajc. The weather was cloudy. The temperature was cold at 11.7 degrees Celsius or 53.04 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 66%.
Match Statistics
- ! 72 Ball Possession 28
Shots
- 28 Total 2
- 10 On Target 1
- 18 Off Target 1
- 8 Shots blocked 1
- 126 Attack 72
- 58 Dangerous attack 24
- 88 Ball safe 81
- 0 Penalties 0
- 10 Corners 1
Fouls
- 11 Total 10
- 1 Yellow Cards 4
- 0 Double Yellow 1
- 0 Red Card 1
Other
- 5 Substitutions 4
Switzerland was in firm control of the ball 72% while Northern Ireland was struggling with a 28% ball possession.
Switzerland was more aggressive with 58 dangerous attacks and 28 shots of which 10 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Switzerland won the match.
Switzerland shot 28 times, 10 on target, 18 off target. On the opposite side, Northern Ireland shot 2 times, 1 on target, 1 off target.
Cards
Switzerland received 1 yellow card (D. Zakaria). On the opposite side, Northern Ireland received 3 yellow cards (J. Lewis, C. Bradley and J. Magennis).
Also, Northern Ireland didn’t manage to end the match with 11 players after J. Lewis (Northern Ireland) was sent off after receiving a second yellow card (37′).
Match Timeline
Standings
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
After this match, Switzerland will have 11 points to stay in the 2nd place. On the opposite side, Northern Ireland will stay with 5 points like Bulgaria to stay in the 3rd place.
Next matches
In the next match in the WC Qualification Europe, Switzerland will play away with Lithuania on the 12th of October with a 3-0 head to head record in favor of Switzerland (0 draws).
Northern Ireland will play away agasint Bulgaria on the 12th of October with a 1-0 head to head in favor of Bulgaria (1 draw).
Switzerland – Formation
Switzerland
81'
45'
90'
Switzerland started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
The manager Murat Yakin decided to play with the following team: Yann Sommer , Kevin Mbabu , Manuel Akanji , Nico Elvedi , Ricardo Rodríguez , Denis Zakaria , Remo Freuler , Renato Steffen , Xherdan Shaqiri , Steven Zuber and Breel Embolo .
The home team had on the bench: Michel Aebischer, Jonas Omlin, Fabian Schär , Christian Fassnacht , Eray Cömert, Silvan Widmer , Albian Ajeti, Mario Gavranović, Ulisses Garcia, Cédric Itten, Djibril Sow and David von Ballmoos.
Substitutions
Switzerland made 5 changes: M. Akanji for F. Schar (53′), K. Mbabu for S. Widmer (81′), S. Zuber for C. Fassnacht (81′), X. Shaqiri for D. Sow (90′) and B. Embolo for C. Itten (90′).
Best player: Steven Zuber
The player that probably impressed the most for Switzerland was Steven Zuber.
His rating is with 1 goal, 36 passes (77% accurate) and 4 key passes. He was won 4 duels out of 4. He performed 2 crosses.
Northern Ireland – Formation
Northern Ireland
37'
Northern Ireland started with a 5-4-1 line-up (5-4-1).
On the opposite side, Ian Baraclough played with: Bailey Peacock-Farrell , Paddy McNair , Daniel Ballard , Craig Cathcart , Ciaron Brown , Jamal Lewis , Stuart Dallas , Steven Davis , Jordan Thompson , George Saville and Conor Washington .
They had on the bench: Shane Ferguson , Niall McGinn, Liam Hughes, Conor Bradley , Josh Magennis , Alfie McCalmont, Conor Hazard, Jordan Jones , Dion Charles, Tom Flanagan, Paul Smyth and Carl Winchester.
Substitutions
Northern Ireland made 4 changes: C. Washington for J. Magennis (62′), C. Brown for S. Ferguson (80′), J. Thompson for J. Jones (80′) and S. Dallas for C. Bradley (86′).
Best player: Bailey Peacock-Farrell
The player that probably impressed the most for Northern Ireland was the goalkeeper: Bailey Peacock-Farrell. His rating is 7.35. He performed 6 saves.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the WC Qualification Europe.
- Poland – San Marino – 5-0
- Hungary – Albania – 0-1
- Andorra – England – 0-5
- Moldova – Denmark – 0-4
- Faroe Islands – Austria – 0-2
- Scotland – Israel – 3-2
- Sweden – Kosovo – 3-0
- Georgia – Greece – 0-2
- Finland – Ukraine – 1-2
- Kazakhstan – Bosnia and Herzegovina – 0-2
- Switzerland – Northern Ireland – 2-0
- Lithuania – Bulgaria – 3-1
- Luxembourg – Serbia – 0-1
- Azerbaijan – Republic of Ireland – 0-3
