Sion ran out 5-2 winners against Grasshoppers at Letzigrund in the Swiss Superliga's fourth round on Tuesday evening. The visitors opened their account through Ylyas Chouaref twelve minutes in, while Grasshoppers responded with a penalty from Samuel Krasniqi after forty-two minutes. By then the match had already shown its shape, though the visitors would not rest until the final whistle.
Giotto Morandi drew Grasshoppers level at forty-nine minutes, but Sion refused to let the home side back into contention. Rilind Nivokazi struck twice in quick succession, at sixty-three and sixty-nine minutes, before Fodé Sylla added a fourth at eighty-two and Josias Lukembila sealed it with a late knock at ninety-one.
We had called an away victory at fifty percent confidence, which turned out to be the right call. Sion played with more intent in the final third and Grasshoppers simply could not contain the movement. And here's the thing — the visitors created six big chances to the hosts' two, which tells you where the quality lay.
Grasshoppers held 43 per cent possession and completed 320 passes from 414 attempts, but their three shots on target yielded just one goal. Sion moved the ball more effectively with 57 per cent possession and 463 successful passes, producing seven shots on target for five goals. To be fair, the visitors also attempted more crosses, landing five of eighteen.
Both sides received three yellow cards each, with incidents spread across the second half. Grasshoppers made five substitutions including Manex Gibelalde for Morandi, while Sion brought on Donat Rrudhani for Franck Surdez and Lee Young-Jun for Óscar Clemente.
The result leaves Grasshoppers ninth with eight points from eight games, while Sion move to second place on eighteen points. The visitors are in control of their own destiny now, and Grasshoppers must find a way back from this afternoon.
