Bryan Reynolds’ return to Westerlo as a permanent member of the squad was spoiled in a narrow loss while Marlon Fossey and Standard Liege also came up short against USG.
Westerlo 0 – 1 Club Brugge
On loan at Westerlo last season, Bryan Reynolds returned to his parent club, AS Roma, at the beginning of the summer only to be sold outright to the Belgian team. He made his first appearance this season at home on Sunday evening in a losing effort against Club Brugge.
Griffin Yow didn’t make the team sheet for this one, however.
Reynolds put in an 84-minute shift on his return to Belgium. He and fellow defender Ravil Tagir perhaps should have done better when Club’s captain Hans Vanaken played Tiago forward into the box, splitting the defense with his pass and then watching his Brazilian teammate beat Sinan Bolat between the Westerlo sticks. The goal came 10 minutes before the intermission.
The game overall was pretty evenly matched, with the visitors dominating just a bit in possession but failing to capitalize on a few chances, thanks to the superb goalkeeping of Bolat.
Westerlo will be at home again on Sunday and will look for their first win of the season when they host Gent. The Buffaloes are undefeated after their first two games.
Standard Liege 0 – 1 Union St. Gilloise
Marlon Fossey and Standard’s home opener on Friday night ended in disappointment as they lost to USG by a solitary goal at the Sclessin. The American played the full 90 minutes in a losing effort.
The solitary goal came in the 21st minute when a ball played from the right flank by Cameron Puertas was delivered with pinpoint accuracy right onto the six-yard line. Dennis Eckert Ayensa, screened by the defender, Merveille Bokadi, who managed to touch the ball onto the German attacker’s leg, watched it trickle over the goal line.
Les Rouches played well but could not find the goal to get anything out of this game against USG, which is only one of three Pro League teams that have maximum points after the second round.
Next up for the team will be a trip west to play against fellow Walloonian team, Sporting Charleroi. The Zebras have just one point after their first two games, losing to Cercle Brugge on Saturday night.
Genk 0 – 1 Eupen
Mark McKenzie and Genk opened the season with an emphatic 4-0 win over newcomers Molenbeek last week, but it appears that the shock of being knocked out of the Champions League on penalties by Swiss side Servette was still playing on their minds when Eupen came to town.
This, in fact, was the first time that the Pandas have won at Genk.
Coach Wouter Vrancken opted to make six changes to the team that played and lost mid-week but his plan backfired as his lifeless Smurfs, who dominated possession with 76% of the ball and out-shot their opponents, just could not come up with a goal.
McKenzie kept his spot in the center of defense and had a very good look at Eupen’s game-winner that found the back of the net after just two minutes when London-born Grenadian Regan Charles-Cook headed Gary Magnée cross into the back of the net.
Genk will have to regroup and stop feeling sorry for themselves quickly because on Thursday night they’ll be in Athens, up against Olympiakos as they try to keep themselves in Europe this season. This two-legged affair will be for a spot in the Europa League group stages.
After that, they’ll head back to Belgium and travel to Brugge to take on Cercle on Sunday afternoon.
Notes
Sam Vines came off the bench to play 17 minutes when Royal Antwerp headed to Brussels to take on Anderlecht. The champions came up short this time in a game that honestly was not very entertaining for the most part. A first-half stoppage time penalty converted by Dane, Kasper Dolberg was the only goal of the game at Lotto Park.
The loss gives Antwerp three out of six points so far this season. They’ll look to make it six out of now however when KV Kortrijk travels to the Bosuil Stadium on Friday night.
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