The facts

FC Sion travelled to Wil on Friday for their first official match in 2024. After more than a month's break, the Valais outfit were back in the league. Didier Tholot's men quickly showed they had good intentions when they travelled to St. Gallen. Both technically and mentally. 

However, despite having the lion's share of possession, the match took a while to settle down. It was Wil who had one of the first great chances of the first half when Bahloul saw his cross deflect off Fayulu's right-hand post.

Valais had to wait until the 45th minute to celebrate their first success, although it was well deserved. Deja Sorgic took advantage of Bua's deflected shot to fire past goalkeeper Ammeter. FC Sion led by a single goal at the interval.

After the break, Sion's intentions remained unchanged. The Red and Whites took the initiative and were comfortable in possession, scoring their second goal through Chipperfield, who was well set up by Chouaref. A few minutes later, Reto Ziegler scored the third Valais goal of the evening from a free-kick. 

Chouaref added to his tally with around 20 minutes remaining, sealing a Valais victory that was in no way diminished by St. Gallen's late equaliser.


The reactions

Didier Tholot: 

"We've worked hard since training resumed and our state of mind was good. We had to confirm that on the pitch and that was the case. We were serious, we applied ourselves and we controlled the match."

"Being demanding, I think we should have scored one or two more goals and not conceded at the end of the game."

"When we were last here in Wil, we couldn't do better than a 0-0 draw. Today we won in style!"

"What makes me happy? It's the psychological aspect. We wanted to make an impression from the start and show that we want to do more. And that's what we did today. Even if we can be even more deadly, we controlled the match."


The compositions

FC Wil - FC Sion 1-4 (0-1)
Wil, Lidl Arena
Referees: Tobias Thies; Claudio dos Santos, Pascal Hirzel; Julian Müller.
Goals: 45' Sorgic (0-1), 52' Chipperfield (0-2), 56' Ziegler (0-3), 68' Chouaref (0-4), 81' Staubli (1-4).
Warnings: 47' Hefti, 54' Dickenmann, 78' Altmann, 92' Haile-Selassie.
FC Wil: Ammeter; Dickenmann (73' Montolio), Martic, Altmann, Brahimi (61' Fernandes); Staubli, Cueni, Ndau; Bahloul (73' Appiah), Muci (87' Gele), Maier (61' Haile-Selassie).
FC Sion: Fayulu; Lavanchy (72' Richard), Schmied, Ziegler, Hefti; Bua, Kabacalman (72' Kabacalman); Chipperfield (72' Rusev), Chouaref, Bouchlarhem (72' Berdayes); Sorgic (79' Zagré).
Notes: Wil without Geiger, Buljan, Borges and Simovic (out). Sion without Souza and Itaitinga (injured). The other absentees are not called up.


What's next

FC Sion welcome FC Aarau to Tourbillon on Friday evening. Kick-off scheduled for 20:15. 


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