Sion came from behind to defeat Basel 2:1 at Санкт-Якоб Парк in the Swiss Superliga's sixth round on Thursday evening. The visitors took all three points despite losing their opening goal, turning the match around with a second-half burst that left the home side scrambling.
Žan Celar gave Basel the lead in the 40th minute, but his celebration was short-lived. A VAR check in 45+2 minutes ruled the goal out, and to be fair, the Swiss side dallied on the ball in the build-up. It was a cruel blow that shifted momentum before the interval.
Sion did not stay down. Winsley Boteli Mokango struck in the 76th minute to level matters, and by then the visitors had found their rhythm. He doubled his tally just three minutes later, holding his nerve when the pressure was on. The draw brought them together early, but this time they went further.
Basel made changes in search of an equaliser, bringing on Xherdan Shaqiri and Kazeem Olaigbe in the 60th minute. Sion responded with three substitutions of their own, introducing Théo Berdayes, Donat Rrudhani and Fodé Sylla. The host side paid for a sloppy opening, and by the time they turned it on, the window had closed.
The statistics told a story of contrast. Both teams controlled 50% of possession, but Sion created two big chances to Basel's one. The hosts registered three shots on target from 23 attempts, while the visitors hit the mark six times from just 16 efforts. Shots accuracy sat at 0.27 for Basel and 0.32 for Sion — a small margin that separated effort from reward.
Basel remain third in the table with 13 points from six games, having won four and dropped one each. Sion sit seventh with six points from five matches, two victories and three defeats. The result ended a run of poor form for the visitors and extended Basel's unbeaten streak to five games.
