It was a good weekend for the Yanks of Belgium as all of their teams picked up points in Pro League action.
Standard Liege 3 – 1 Charleroi
It was a very good Friday night for les Rouches and Marlon Fossey, as the Walloon team picked up a valuable three points at the Sclessin while their American midfielder found the back of the net for the fourth time this season. He played the full 90 minutes. Noah Ohio and Renaud Emond scored the others for Standard, while Ken Nkuba scored for the Zebras.
Les Rouches are fighting to the end for a top-four Championship play-off spot and these three points put them in a great position to claim a top spot thanks to their home win against the Zebras of Charleroi.
Noah Ohio struck after just 14 minutes and Standard took a lead that they would never relinquish. the second goal, Fossey’s, came very late in the game, however. Philip Zinckernagel played the ball forward and sub Stipe Perica who then picks out the American at the far post and he doesn’t miss.
Charleroi finally got on the board minutes before the 90 minutes but then the hosts did likewise with Renaud Emond’s 91st-minute goal.
Liege will go up against OH Leuven in their last game of the season.
Genk 5 – 2 Anderlecht
Genk made a statement of intent for when the playoffs roll around by dismantling Anderlecht on Sunday afternoon in front of their home fans. Mark McKenzie went the distance and picked up an early yellow card for the Smurfs as they put five goals past les Mauves.
Joseph Paintsil struck twice in the second half, scoring his 13th and 14th goals of the season. Mbwana Samatta got the scoring underway, though it took 36 minutes before the first Genk took the lead. Seven minutes later, however, Islam Slimani struck and thought he had done enough to send the teams into the locker room at halftime in par. It didn’t happen however because Aziz Wuattara struck two minutes into stoppage time, giving the hosts the lead.
Things only got better for the league leaders when they stretched their lead with Paintsil’s 49th-minute goal, then four minutes later Bilal El Khannouss extended the lead and pretty much put the game to bed. Two more goals did come however one for both teams, ending a pretty convincing display by the team at the top of the league.
Genk will travel to Wallonia for their last league game to take on Sporting Charleroi. The Zebras will be desperate for a few points as they hope to hold onto their European play-off spot.
Westerlo 0 – 0 Club Brugge
Bryan Reynolds continued his role on the Westerlo back line and assisted in the clean sheet as he went the distance. Unfortunately, Club Brugge also had a very good defensive game, leaving both teams to share the points in this 0-0 game.
The defending Belgian champions dominated the game at Het Kuipje over the weekend. Other than 65 percent possession, Club had 13 corner kicks and 11 shots of the target. They did everything right except for putting the ball into the back of Westerlo’s net. The hosts only managed one effort on target over the 90 minutes and were lucky to get a point out of this game, after doing the same last weekend with a no-score draw against Anderlecht.
This weekend will be the 34th and final game of the regular season and Westerlo will travel to take on RFC Seraing, who will be playing their soccer in the second division next season. Reynold’s side could use a point, just in case but should really end the season in seventh place. This is good enough to go into the European play-off group.
Notes
Sam Vines was not available as Royal Antwerp squeaked past Kortrijk by a 1-0 score line. The win puts them in second place although USG has a game in hand. For the last game of the season, the Great Old will travel to take on Sint Truiden. They have already secured a top-four spot and will be competing for the Belgian title when the playoffs roll around.
