It was a bad weekend for the Yanks in Belgium with only Sam Vines’ Antwerp winning, but he was not there. Griffin Yow did score however.
Charleroi 3 – 2 Westerlo
Westerlo headed south into Wallonia on Saturday afternoon to take on the Zebras of Charleroi and although they took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at half-time, they lost to a heart-breaking 96th minute goal.
Bryan Reynolds started the game on the right wing and went the distance, while Griffin Yow came on in the 77th minute and scored his second goal of the season for the Flemish side.
The visitors took the lead after 24 minutes when, on the break, five players were involved in the build-up that ended with Emin Bayram picking out Nicolas Madsen who sent a curler into the top inside of the far post for his fifth goal of the season. It was just before the hour mark however when Charleroi evened things up with Daan Heymans shot from just inside the box. Seven minutes later the hosts were ahead from Oday Dabbagh’s close range shot.
Yow came into the game with just 13 minutes left of the 90 in hopes of getting his team something from the game and that is exactly what he did. After Charleroi lost possession in the middle of the park, Westerlo quickly broke forward and from inside the D, Tom van den Keybus saw his American colleague advancing into the box to his left and slid the ball to Yow, who stepped around a defender and placed it just inside the far post.
Flemish euphoria was short lived however because when the clock struck 96 minutes, Youssuf Sylla headed a corner into the net to claim all the points and let Westerlo travel home with no points in the bag.
Still in the relegation zone, the Yanks will host Anderlecht on Friday night as they look to get back to winning ways.
Standard Liege 1 – 0 Genk
In what could have been a Yank vs Yank encounter, Marlon Fossey missed out, while Mark McKenzie went the distance in this defensive battle that only saw the net ripple once, which was for the hosts half way through the second half.
Both teams managed just three shots on target but it was Hayao Kawabe’s superb first time shot on the volley that beat Maarten Vandevoordt from 12 yards out.
Next up, les Rouches will head to Brugge to take on Club, while the Smurfs host Gent on Sunday afternoon. First however, they will travel to Italy to take on Fiorentina.
Sint Truiden 1 – 1 Antwerp
Kahveh Zahiroleslam started up front for the Canaries when they welcomed the Belgian champions to the Stayen. The former Yale Bulldog put in a 76 minute shift as STVV blew a first half lead but managed to hang onto a point. Sam Vines is training with Antwerp but is not yet ready to rejoin the team in action.
Minutes before the half time whistle the hosts took the lead when Jarne Steuckers struck from 18 yards out. Antwerp left it late, in the 81st minute, in fact, when Chidera Ejuke stormed into the box and the trio of defenders refused to challenge him, so he just struck the ball into the back of the net.
The point leaves STVV in the ninth spot, while the Great Old find themselves in fifth. Next up the champions travel to north Germany to take on Ukranians Shakhtar Donetsk before returning to league action, against OH Leuven. Zahiroleslam and his side will travel to Mechelen on Sunday.
Cercle Brugge 2 – 0 Eupen
Eupen extended their winless streak to four games when they travelled to Brugge to take on Cercle and ended up on the losing end of a 2-0 score line. Gabriel Slonina went the distance between the sticks for the Pandas, making seven saves over the 90 minutes.
Both goals came in the second half with Alan Minda scoring just a minute after the restart and the second coming in stoppage time from Kazeem Olaigbe.
Next up for Slonina is a trip to Brussels to take on league leaders, Union St Gilloise.
Notes
Alex Mighten came off the bench in the 76th minute for Kortrijk when his Kerels were already down 2-0 to Mechelen. The Kakkers scored a third minutes later to shut out their hosts by a 3-0 score line. KVK will be in action again on Saturday evening when they travel close to the German border to take on Eupen.