Jordan Pefok was forced to leave the game midway through the first half as Young Boys fell apart to allow Lugano to come away with the comeback win.
Lugano 3-1 Young Boys
Young Boys lost their goal-scoring threat in Jordan Pefok as Lugano went on to score three unanswered goals in their win at Stadio di Cornaredo.
Pefok, who has been one of the most in-form strikers among the American contingent in Europe, had to leave the game in the 34th minute with a leg injury. There has been no word from his club on the extent of the injury and how long he will be out of action.
Before leaving the game, the 26-year-old came close to scoring his 23rd league goal of the season just three minutes into the contest when his teammate Wilfride Kanga feed him a low cross in the center of the area, but he could get complete control of the ball while falling to the turf and his effort went wide of the goal.
The action would get intense in the second as Young Boys finally broke the scoreless deadlock a minute after the restart. Mohamed Camara headed in a powerful shot from a corner kick that Lugano goalkeeper Amir Saipi found too much to handle as the ball crossed the goal line.
The hosts then responded with a goal of their own three minutes later when Mohamed Amoura pressured Fabian Lustenburger to surrender the ball and it was off to the races as the Algerian darted towards the goal before blasting a powerful shot into the back of the net.
Young Boys pushed to retake the lead, but Amoura scored his second on the day in the 70th minute to give Lugano the lead for good. A free-kick into the area went past several players before he put a shot from his chest goal bound, leaving goalkeeper David von Ballmoos scrambling back to his left to try to stop the ball, but it was too late.
Lugano would lose Saipi in the 87th minute as he was sent off, but that did not stop them from grabbing one last goal in stoppage time. Maren Haile-Selassie received a pass from Sandi Lovric and then proceeded to chip the ball over von Ballmoos to score.
Young Boys remain in the top three despite the loss with 53 points.
Note
Down in the Challenge League, Lucas Pos went the distance for Stade Lausanne-Ouchy, but they were no match for Neuchatel Xamax as they fell in a 3-1 defeat.