Jonathan Okita makes Franco Foda happy, but only for a short while - the Zurich striker and these players have left their mark on the Super League round
In the end, Franco Foda stands there again with this face that swings back and forth between bewilderment and naked horror. Another defeat for the FC Zurich coach, 2:3 against Servette this time. Again, like last Sunday against Lugano, the decisive goal was conceded very late. And again after a game in which his team is actually not the worse.
From Zurich's point of view, it all has a lot to do with Jonathan Okita this afternoon, the winger who needed some time to arrive in Zurich after his transfer from Dutch club NEC Nijmegen. And then he shines in Geneva because he finally scores for his new club, twice and wonderfully at that. First, with a cool duper, later with a long shot hitting the net corner.
Thanks to Okita's goals, Zurich is well in the game at Servette. Still, Okita is also sent off after 72 minutes with an unnecessary yellow-red card at 2:2. His teammates then fight back to the best of their ability. Still, they allow that 2:3, deep into stoppage time and after a corner kick where they stop defending. Even after eight games, the title holders have never won the championship. For coach Foda, the air is getting thinner and thinner. By the way, you can place bets on sports here https://cricketbetting10.in/.
Everyone in Valais is talking about Mario Balotelli right now. Still, another player deserves it: Filip Stojilkovic, a striker like Balotelli - and in enviable shape, unlike the Italian veteran star.
The 22-year-old showed this on Saturday when FC Sion won in St. Gallen. It's a bit of a surprise because St. Gallen had recently strung together five wins in their own stadium. But the Wallisians have the leader almost always under control. After 28 minutes, they lead 2:0, and both times Stojilkovic has his feet in the game. First, he gets through against two opponents and then lays on for Ilyas Chouaref. A few minutes later, the Zurich native runs alone towards the St. Gallen goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi and scores powerfully to make it 2:0.
This brings the U21 international striker, who played in every game during the successful European Championship qualifying campaign, to four goals for the season. He has scored all of them in the last five games, and if he continues like this, Stojlkovic will top the good quota of the previous season - 11 goals in 35 Super League games. The fact that Balotelli, a rival with a huge name, has now emerged for the position in the center of attack does not seem to inhibit him but rather inspire him.
When he was a young man, there was a time when Max Meyer was allowed to call himself a German international. He once played a total of four international matches for Germany, partial appearances only, but still: international matches for Germany, the last one in November 2016 against San Marino. Meyer was considered a great promise in his home country, having made his Champions League debut at the age of 17 and later, as a 21-year-old, already having 100 Bundesliga games under his belt for Schalke 04, his youth club.
But Meyer left the club in a dispute after several contract offers were rejected; in the end, the homegrown was no longer even allowed to train with the club. Meyer went to England. And his career stalled. He played for Crystal Palace in London, returned to Germany, to Cologne, sought his fortune in Turkey, in Denmark - and has now landed at FC Luzern.
The German, soon to be 27 years old, traveled to Winterthur with his new club at the weekend. Meyer returned home with a 6-0 victory and two goals. He has only managed a brace once before in his career, a long, long time ago, in 2015 - back when he was still a young talent at FC Schalke.