Party in the middle third – Richard shorthanded as a basis: 5-1 win over Latvia – Sports

Ceremony in the middle third

Ponynov, the Rapperswil-Jona goalkeeper, had to get behind him three more times in the middle third. Marco Lehmann scored his first goal for the national team (28th minute), and the Latvian complained in vain that Mike Kunzel was hindering the goalkeeper. Lehmann's goal also came with a majority.

After another 3 minutes, the Latvian goal rang out again: Sven Sentellier and his EVZ teammate Fabrice Herzog stormed the Latvian defender, deciding to end the game and bring the score to 4-0.

The fact that the Swiss had regained their self-confidence was demonstrated by Romain Lovell's 5-0 win. The referees had awarded a penalty kick against the Latvian player, and the Swiss passed the goal to each other in the third to the opponent for 20 seconds until Lovell put it into the goal with a wrist shot.

Little happens in the final third

With Lovells winning 5-0, Mass was said in Lausanne. Latvian coach Harijs Vitolins had seen enough of Poninov, and Eriks Vitolins completed the final third. However, he had almost nothing to do like the Ponynovs.

Not only did the Swiss start the free race in front of around 2,500 spectators in Lausanne, they at least changed the pace, but without losing control of the event. Leonardo Genoni, who had been able to spend a mostly quiet evening, was forced to concede defeat shortly before the end. Renars Krastenbergs caught the EVZ guard between the sailboats.

A test match, not a friendly match

In the first third it was at times spiteful and rough. There were 6 small and 1 major penalty kicks handed out in the first third alone. Mark Marchon was sent to the bathroom after being examined from behind. However, the Latvians were not able to take advantage of this – on the contrary: Tanner Richard scored the goal, ran across the field and scored for the first time with a shorthand shot.

After the first break, both teams calmed down in terms of the number of penalty kicks. There wasn't much to see of the initial spite, which suggested more of a test than a friendly match.

And this is how it continues

Switzerland will be tested against Latvia again on Saturday. From 5:20 p.m., you can follow the test match that will be held in Kloten, on SRF Channel 2 and live. The game starts at 5:30 p.m.