Basel beat Lucerne 4:2 at the Thermoplan Arena in the Swiss Super League on Saturday. The visitors moved clear in the middle of the table while the hosts slipped further behind. We had given a home win at 41 per cent confidence, but the match went another way — and here's the thing, Basel simply took their chances when they mattered.
Žan Celar opened the scoring after four minutes, and Philip Otele doubled the lead before the break. Lucerne responded through Lars Villiger in the eighty-fourth minute, but Xherdan Shaqiri had already put the game beyond doubt with two goals of his own. By then the visitors were playing with confidence, and the hosts were chasing shadows.
Shaqiri took his first goal in the fifty-sixth minute, collected a yellow card five minutes later, and added a second in the sixty-sixth before being replaced. Both sides made changes around the hour mark — Lucerne brought on Tyron Owusu and Mio Zimmermann while Basel introduced Jonas Harder and Daniel Mikołajewski. Kevin Ruegg went off for Lucerne after receiving a booking in the fifty-eighth minute.
Lucerne had more attacks at 122 to 93 but their shot accuracy was 0.16 compared to 0.35 for Basel. The hosts created three big chances and lost 24 aerial duels, while Basel won the same number of aerial battles and held 54 per cent possession. Many shots with one goal means chances went begging — and that is exactly what happened here.
Basel sit fourth with 13 points after eight games, three clear of Lucerne in eighth with 9. The visitors have been inconsistent of late with defeats to Lugano and Sion, but they turned it on when it counted. The history between them adds an edge, and this result puts Basel in a stronger position heading into the next round.