BERN. Grasshoppers gave their season a second emphatic chapter in the Swiss Cup on Saturday, winning 8-0 at second tier Grenchen in the second round. Oscar Clemente, Samuel Krasniqi and Lee Young-Jun each scored twice, captain Amir Abrashi led the side out for his 300th appearance in blue and white, and the tie was effectively over by half time at 4-0.
The scoreline matters less to Zurich than the pattern. It is two wins in two matches under Olaf Janssen, whose league debut ended in a 2-0 home defeat to Young Boys last weekend but whose high intensity approach has now produced ten goals without reply against the opponents it should beat. Against Grenchen, any doubts about the first win of his tenure were removed early.
Winterthur nearly wrote the headline
The upset of the round came within a goal kick of happening. Relegated Winterthur, leaders in the Challenge League, held Luzern scoreless until stoppage time, when Pius Dorn forced the ball over the line after a corner in the 92nd minute. The home side had struck the bar through an Antonio Marchesano free kick and seen Roman Buess wrongly flagged offside as he ran through alone, in front of 7,800 spectators and, in the absence of video assistants at this level, without appeal.
Sion made to work in Cham
In Zug, Cham resisted Sion for an hour before substitute Liam Chipperfield, the under-21 international, broke the deadlock shortly after half time. Benjamin Kololli added the second in stoppage time. Cham, who knocked Lugano out of the cup last season, leave with the evening’s respect if not its result.
The round concludes on Sunday with five more Super League clubs on the road: Lugano visit Pully, Lausanne travel to Winkeln, Zurich face Aarau, Young Boys go to Taverne and Thun play away at Schaffhausen. After the first two batches of ties, every top flight club that has played is through. The draw for the third round follows on Sunday evening, live on SRF zwei from around 7.40pm.