Ibrahima Ndiaye nets brace as FC Luzern whitewash FC Wohlen

FC Luzern ended their pre-season campaign with a 6-1 obliteration of FC Wohlen, with Ibrahima Ndiaye scoring a brace.

In the seven-goal thriller, Pascal Schurpf gave Fabio Celestini’s men a fifth minute lead from the penalty mark after the ball bounced into the hand of a defender – leaving referee Lukas Faehndrich with no choice but to award a penalty.

Francesco Margiotta doubled the lead in the 18th minute from the penalty spot after Ndiaye was fouled in the goal area. Despite their dominance, the scoreline stayed respectable as the first-half ended 2-0.

The Swiss elite division side commenced the second-half like a house on fire and justifiably got another goal through Margiotta in the 48th minute thanks to Schurpf’s assist.

Wohlen got one back in the 55th minute through Luigi Milicaj who gave Marcus Muller no chance to defend himself with a fine left-footed shot in the far corner.

Ndiaye got his first of the evening in the 72nd minute after making a solo run towards goal before beating goalkeeper Olivier Joos. Five minutes later, he got his double which he benefitted from a combination between Margiotta and Schurpf.

With victory guaranteed, manager Celestini changed the entire team except Muller and Brazilian defender Lucas Alves. That did not prevent the sixth goal from sailing in as substitute Mark Marleku drilled home an 89th minute free-kick.

This victory is a good dress rehearsal for Luzern who face Thun in Sunday’s Swiss Cup showdown at Stockhorn Arena.

Six days later, they travel to the Cornaredo Stadium as they begin their 2020-21 Swiss Super League campaign against Franklin Sasere’s Lugano.

Having narrowly missed out on a place in Europe last term, they are putting all hands on deck to ensure a place on the continent at the end of the season.

After a shaky debut with Luzern where he scored six league goals from 24 outings, 22-year-old Ndiaye, who joined from Egypt Premier League side Wadi Degla, would aspire to do better this term.

At international level, the striker came under scrutiny during the final of the 2017 Africa U20 Cup of Nations final after allegedly tossing an object he had in his socks into the Zambian goal – which fans labelled as witchcraft. Even at that, they went ahead to lose 2-0 to hosts Zambia.