GETAFE (Interstat) — Ajeti Al. scored twice and Lugano used a three-goal burst in the first half to beat Getafe 5-2 on Thursday at Polideportivo Giner de los Ríos. The visitors erased an early deficit and pulled away for a win in the competition. Lugano entered the match having won four of its previous five games across all competitions, while Getafe had one win in its previous five. Lugano had recently beaten Pully Football 4-0, Crvena zvezda 3-2 and Luzern 4-0, with a 3-1 loss at Verona and a 4-1 win over St. Gallen. Getafe had drawn with Rayo Vallecano and Univ. Craiova, lost to Barcelona and Betis, and beaten Malaga.

Getafe opened the scoring in the second minute when Ivan Azon found the net. Lugano answered one minute later through Ajeti Al., and Yanis Cimignani put the visitors ahead in the seventh. Ajeti added his second in the 26th, and Uran Bislimi made it 4-1 in the 50th. Borja Mayoral pulled one back for Getafe in the 74th, but Kevin Behrens completed the scoring in the 90+2nd minute. The sequence of goals saw Getafe take a brief lead before Lugano scored three times in the first 26 minutes to take control. Lugano led 3-1 at halftime after Ajeti’s second goal in the 26th. Getafe’s Azon scored in the second minute, the fastest goal of the match.

Ajeti Al. led Lugano with two goals in 66 minutes before being substituted. Ivan Azon scored once in 66 minutes for Getafe and was also replaced. Uran Bislimi played the full 90 minutes, scored once and was shown a yellow card. Borja Mayoral also played 90 minutes, scored once and was booked. Kevin Behrens scored in 24 minutes after entering as a substitute. Daniel Dos Santos recorded an assist in 75 minutes. Yanis Cimignani scored once and was booked in 59 minutes. Mattia Zanotti had an assist and a yellow card in 75 minutes. Dereck Moncada had an assist and a yellow card in 59 minutes. Ajeti Al. was the only player to score twice.

Yellow cards were issued to Cimignani in the 13th minute, Bislimi in the 20th, Mayoral in the 23rd, Moncada in the 57th, Mai L. in the 70th and Zanotti in the 73rd. Getafe made four substitutions at halftime, involving Risco A., Davinchi, Abqar A. and Kiko Femenia. Lugano substituted Moncada and Cimignani in the 59th minute, Ajeti Al. in the 66th, and Dos Santos and Zanotti in the 75th. Getafe also substituted Azon in the 66th. There were six yellow cards, five to Lugano players and one to a Getafe player. The teams combined for 10 substitutions. Lugano’s five goals came from four different players, while Getafe’s two goals came from two players. Ajeti Al. was the only player to score twice, while five other players scored once.

Lugano improved to 2-0 in this competition and 11-1-1 across all competitions. Getafe fell to 0-1-1 in the competition and 2-6-5 overall. Lugano’s overall record includes 11 wins, one loss and one draw, while Getafe’s overall mark stands at two wins, six losses and five draws. In the competition, Lugano has two wins and no losses, while Getafe has no wins, one loss and one draw.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Getafe 1, Lugano 1. Interstat’s ELO system gave Getafe a 62 percent probability to win. Getafe was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -0.5. The total score of 7 went under the over/under line of 2.5.