Europe

Belgian First Division Round-Up: Anderlecht Dump Red Hot Kortrijk, Sint-Truiden Shock Standard Liege

Ariel Jacobs' men won their six match in a row...

Nov 30, 2009 2:56:20 PM

Romelu Lukaku, Anderlecht (foto PROSHOTS)

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Romelu Lukaku, Anderlecht (foto PROSHOTS)

Teams

Anderlecht 1-0 Kortrijk
Westerlo 1-0 KV Mechelen
Mouscron 2-0 KRC Genk
KAA Gent 3-1 Cercle Brugge
Club Brugge 1-0 Charleroi
Germinal Beerschot 3-0 Roeselare
Zulte Waregem 1-0 Lokeren
Sint-Truiden 2-0 Standard

Anderlecht 1-0 Kortrijk

Kortrijk may have been quietly tipped for a point in some quarters, however Anderlecht simply outclassed their opponents in a manner woefully inadequately reflected in the scoreline. There was a bright start to the game as Jonathan Legear’s cross was just diverted away from De Sutter by Ciman. The Belgian winger who has turned his life around after a car crash was stepping into the shoes of Mbark Boussoufa, who many consider to be the standout player in the Belgian league.

The goal that the home side’s play deserved came on 13 minutes via a long ball towards Juhasz Roland who headed it via the post beyond the keeper Verbauwhede. This match featured some excellent interplay between front three and it really was a joy to watch. One move saw Legear square it to young sensation Romelu Lukaku but his attempt was saved by the keeper. Everything was going through Legear and he hit the side net with a decent attempt. Furthermore, Jelle van Damme and Lukaku had chances before the break but it remained 1-0.

RSCA kept their dominance up in the second half and when Lukaku crossed from the left for De Sutter, it seemed certain to be 2-0 but the former Cercle man got under it and failed to display the clinical touch that he showed so often last season. Lukaku seems to be making an art form of scoring goals which are then chalked off and there was yet another disallowed strike to his name. He guided a Juhasz flick on into the net but the young Antwerpen-born striker was quite literally inches offside. Kortrijk almost hit back through a Christian Benteke header, which ended up going just wide thanks to keeper Silvio Proto who was alert to the danger of the onrushing Kortrijk attackers.

Coach Ariel Jacobs then shuffled the pack bringing on Thomas Chatelle and Matias Suarez for Legear and De Sutter. Kortrijk then threw on ex-Anderlecht and Genk winger Tom Soetaers with three minutes to go and his quality delivery from the left hand side almost led to uncertainty between Proto and his backline but the Paars-Wit defence cleared and the ensuing counter almost brought the ultimately elusive second goal – first Chatelle was denied by Verbauwhede, then Lukaku. The Kortrijk goalkeeper didn’t deserve to be on the losing side and his outstanding performance was sportingly acknowledged by his adversaries at the final whistle.

Westerlo 2-0 KV Mechelen

Westerlo provided no relief for Mechelen’s blues as they became the third team in four games to prevent the Yellow and Reds from scoring and the away side have now lost five on the bounce. The visitors had an early chance through Aloys Nong who shot inches wide coming inside on his left foot. If Mechelen are to get out of their slump, he badly needs to rediscover his scoring form. Westerlo’s topscorer Dieter Dekelver fired just over after some dogged persistence from Momodou Ceesay to create the space.

The game was scoreless at half-time and there for the taking for both sides. The visitors’ philosophy was that if it first you don’t succeed, try and try and try again. They continued to press in the second half. Nong was just wide with a far post header, albeit from an almost impossible angle and Destorme headed just over. However, as so often happens to a team on top who fails to make it count, they were punished. Westerlo hit KVM on the counter, with Iakovenko running over half the length of the field until he was fouled but he got up to score a goal, which could really have been prevented.

The man on loan from Anderlecht bent the ball around the wall. It skidded wickedly off the turf, deceiving Renard in the process and the goalie could only parry it in. Westerlo were now full of confidence and started to create more chances. Their second goal came from a cross from deep on the left hand side to the far post and Steven De Petter outjumped his marker and guided it past Renard. De Kempenaren now move level in the table with Mechelen and will have Standard in their sights.

Mouscron 2-0 KRC Genk

As the future of Mouscron looks like being saved, they ironically put the final nail in the coffin of Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s reign as Genk manager as they booked yet another win. The beleaguered former Kortrijk gaffer stuck with his under-fire 3-4-3 system but if he was looking for a response from his players, he didn’t get it. Bahrainian striker Jaycee was bright and dangerous early on without being able to force a real chance. He then found space 30 yards out but his shot was just too high.

Genk’s first good opportunity came after 25 minutes when Hungarian captain Tozser Daniel shot just wide on his left peg from distance. Vanhaezebrouck must have thought it was his day as Mouscron were reduced to ten men after a petulant kick from Mathieu Assou-Ekotto, however as often happens, ten men work harder and prove harder to play against. They managed to get to half-time on level terms and almost took the lead after the resumption but Jaycee somehow managed to direct his dink over Verhulst wide of the goal.

Genk have really underachieved this season and when things go against you, they really go against you. A cross from El Aradji was turned into his own net by Genk centre-back Erik Matoukou. To compound matters, Mouscron were awarded a penalty when Joneleit tripped Robert Maah, though the Cambodian striker did go down rather easily. Spanish midfielder Jonathan Aspas sealed Vanhaezebrouck’s fate with an emphatically struck spot kick straight down the middle.

Comment: Whilst KRC Genk should be competing at the very top of the Belgian league and they have no doubt drastically underachieved, Vanhaezebrouck deserved more time. The chairman had stated he would only sack his manager were Genk to fail to finish in the top 6 however he has pressed the panic button after one more defeat. It remains to be seen whether he will be vindicated in his stance but it is a shame to see a manager sacked barely halfway through the season, especially in view of the unique Belgian play-off system, which means you can never write teams off this early in the season.

KAA Gent 3-1 Cercle Brugge

De Buffalo’s are really on song now having now won three on the spin and they look very impressive indeed. The first chance of the game fell to Oleg Iachtchouk who fired just wide. Gent then found their feet and Smolders forced a good save from Cercle goalkeeper Coppens with a rasping shot from all of 25 yards.

Then, in a frantic period of play, Milos Maric almost scored directly from a corner. The resulting shot from the clearance was parried away by Coppens and in the ensuing scramble, Norwegian defender Ernst Hanstveit was felled and the referee rightly pointed to the spot. Maric made no mistake and scored his third goal of the season. Gent doubled the lead through unlikely scorer Roberto Rosales. After Slovenian striker Zlatan Ljubijankic retrieved a lost cause, the Costa Rican right-back had nothing to lose and his left foot shot from 12 yards out found the back of the net much to his and the team’s surprise.

Gent were good value for their 2-0 half-time lead but Cercle hit back with a goal from Iachtchouk who latched onto a through ball and slotted the ball home across Jorgacevic, leaving the Serbian keeper no chance. Cercle almost equalised through Nyoni’s shot, which agonisingly rolled along the six yard box and just wide. In truth it would have flattered the visitors. French midfielder Christophe Lepoint proceeded to hit the bar but Gent made sure of all three points through a stunning Bernd Thijs volley from a Maric free kick.
Club Brugge 1- 0 Charleroi

Though the home fans got the result their side badly needed in order to keep up the pressure on Anderlecht, they most certainly didn’t get the performance that such a talented side should be capable of, especially against such mediocre opponents as Charleroi. Perhaps Blauw-Zwart thought they were playing Germinal Beerschot all over again as Les Zebres turned out in a bright green strip.

The most striking feature however of the first half was the performance of the referee, who had given 34 yellow cards in his previous six games and dished out another three in the first 20 minutes. Charleroi have been struggling of late and new manager Tommy Craig will have been dismayed at the sending off of Cordaro for what the linesman claimed to be an elbow on Carl Hoefkens. However, whilst the replays didn’t show an elbow, the former West Brom defender was flung to the ground and Charleroi were rightly reduced to 10 men.

Club only had one chance in the first half and it fell to Joseph Akpala but he fluffed his lines, firing wide when it was harder to miss than score. Brugge made a double change at the break in the hope of breaking the deadlock. However both sides huffed and puffed without being able to blow the house down. Former Debrecen striker Dorge Kouemaha was particularly guilty, firing over from 12 yards out when presented with a golden chance. He then hit the bar with a superb dipping effort and it was no surprise when the substitute rescued all three points for the home side.

The recalled Nabil Dirar’s flick on was met by Mohamed Dahmane and though his header was saved by Sebastien Chabbert, Kouemaha was on hand to tuck home the rebound. A very scrappy win for Club Brugge but coming off the back of two defeats, one that will nevertheless be welcomed at the Jan Breydelstadion.

Germinal Beerschot 3-0 Roeselare

Probably the most impressive performance of the weekend again came from Germinal Beerschot as they coasted to a 3-0 win over strugglers Roeselare. Jos Daerden couldn’t have wished for a better start for his charges as they took the lead after just two minutes through Sherjill McDonald, who has shone in recent weeks with his tireless effort upfront allied to a touch of quality when it matters. A long ball from the back was flicked on by veteran Bart Goor onto in-form striker Tosin Dosunmu. His cross was met by McDonald who smashed a stinging volley through the hands of Roeselare goalkeeper Jurgen Sierens, who this time can absolve himself of all blame.

Roeselare did eventually find their feet in the first half and wasted a golden opportunity to equalise but Icelandic midfielder Vidarsson got under a close range header and it went just over the goal of Pacovski. Roeselare lived to regret that as GBA doubled the lead with a lightning quick counter. Faris Haroun will take all the plaudits for a fine finish but he was brilliantly set up by McDonald who showed both pace and composure in abundance.

In the second half, Tosin almost made it three after more good play from McDonald who was causing all kinds of problems down the left hand side but the shot was deflected wide. Roeselare tried in vain to get back into the game but they lacked that little bit of quality when it mattered. Faris Haroun had two good chances to score his second but he made no mistake with his third, deep into time added on. A far post cross from Ivan Leko was chested down and the Belgian international coolly slotted home to put the icing on the cake for GBA who remain in third spot. The Antwerpen side have now won five in a row.

Zulte Waregem 1-0 Lokeren

Essevee may have been rampant last week against KV Mechelen, scoring four goals in the process but just the solitary strike was enough to clinch all three points against Jacky Mathijssen’s struggling Lokeren. The hosts started very brightly and overwhelmed Lokeren however they couldn’t make their play count. Indeed Zulte could have been three or four up inside the first 15 minutes.

Roelants spurned one particularly good chance after a flick on from Ernst Nfor. They had to wait until after the half-hour mark for what would prove to be the decisive goal. The big Cameroonian striker forced a smart save from goalkeeper Lazic but unfortunately for the Serb, Karel D’Haene was in the right place at the right time to head home the rebound – his second goal of the season. The look on Mathijssen’s face highlighted the real struggle he is experiencing at Lokeren and he’ll have been tearing his remaining hair out at the chance missed by Polish attacker Dawid Janczyk who was played in by Israel forward Omer Golan but he showed a lack of confidence and shot straight at home keeper Sammy Bossut.

Lokeren rode their luck at times at the back with some kamikaze style defending but luckily managed to avert danger just in time to prevent themselves falling further behind. Janczyk must have thought he was about to level things up however again he took too long and allowed home defender Steve Colpaert to make a magnificent last-gasp sliding challenge to keep his side in front. Teddy Chevalier failed to add to his tally of eight for the season though should have done better when he fired well wide with Lazic scrambling across goal but it didn’t matter in the end as Waregem consolidated their spot in the top 6 with another win and indeed moved ahead of Standard. Lokeren meanwhile have it all to do in the relegation spots.

Sint-Truiden 2- 0 Standard

One of the shock results of the season has forced Standard manager Boloni Laszlo to rule his side out of the title race and having named Brugge as potential winners only a fortnight ago, he now stated that bitter rivals Anderlecht were seemingly running away with it. There was little action to note in the first half though Sint-Truiden defender Wim Mennes was forced off after an accidental stamp on his ankle by Standard’s fringe player Regis Goreux. Though it looked bad in slow motion, the incident had none of the horror of the Witsel challenge on Wasileswki earlier in the season and was a genuine attempt to go for the ball.

STVV have been on a terrible run of form and were delighted to go in at half-time still on level terms with the champions. On Saturday night, Dorge Kouemaha netted the winner for Club Brugge and it was another former Debrecen striker who opened the scoring at Stayen. Ibrahima Sidibe received the ball inside the box, turned Victor Ramos and his left footed shot through the legs of the defender not only left Bolat with no chance but sent the home crowd into raptures.

Axel Witsel did his best to get Standard back into the game with a fizzing right foot shot from distance but promising young goalkeeper Mignolet was equal to the task. Standard threw on star striker Igor de Camargo in an attempt to salvage at least a point. However it was the young Ivorian striker Moussa Traore who had a good chance however Mignolet saved smartly with his feet. As visiting coach Laszlo looked on in despair, de Kanarien sealed all three points with a stunning strike from substitute Jonathan Wilmet. Taking the ball on the left hand corner of the box, he came inside on his right foot and unleashed a stunning strike over Bolat and into the opposite corner.

Standard had underperformed and rightly came away with nothing. They now drop to sixth in the standings and their immediate priority now will be to stop the rot and ensure they at least make the play-offs. It isn’t all bleak for Standard as they can still go through to the last 16 of the Champions League if they beat AZ at Sclessin and Olympiacos lose to Arsenal.

Gary Niblock, Goal.com

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