The Pro League group play-offs got underway over the weekend with the Championship and European/Conference League groups seeing action. The Relegation group doesn’t get underway until the following weekend, so Gabriel Slonina and Eupen got to enjoy their Easter break.
Genk 1 – 0 Union St Gilloise
Genk, who started the Championship Play-offs in the sixth spot, welcomed the league leaders USG, who started the weekend with a three point lead over Anderlecht. With Mark McKenzie going the distance on the left side of a three-man defensive unit, the Smurfs played well enough to deny their visitors all but three shots on goal, with none beating Maarten Vandevoordt between the posts.
Although the leaders dominated every aspect of the game, it was Anthony Moris who had to pick the ball out of the back of his net after 27 minutes. Patrik Hrosovsky picked up the assist when he played a through ball to Tolu Arokodare, who rippled the net with a right footed shot from a very tight angle.
Try as they may, a stubborn defensive wall frustrated and kept the Unionists at bay. Deep into stoppage time things got worse for the pretenders, when a very frustrated Chris Burgess took a throw-in and threw it right into the face of Arokodare. The referee, without hesitation pulled out his red card and sent the Englishman off for violent conduct.
McKenzie spoke to the press after the game and said, “Today a new season started, the only important thing was the three points. It’s a mentality thing (nd) everyone who played did their job. It was a tactical game, that’s how football is sometimes. We’ll take it game by game, then we’ll see where we get to.”
Losing for the first time in 25 games, USG is now in second place behind Anderlecht with goal difference separating the two teams. Genk is now in the third spot, eight points behind the leaders. They’ll look to close that gap a bit on Saturday night when they travel to take on the defending champions, Royal Antwerp.
Sint-Truiden 2 – 0 Westerlo
Kahveh Zahiroleslam started up front for the Canaries as they beat visiting Westerlo at the Stayen on Sunday evening, but strangely neither Bryan Reynolds nor Griffin Yow made the roster for the Limburg team. The Californian put in a 72 minute shift.
Jarne Steuckers was the man of the match for the Canaries with his pair of goals with one coming very early in the first half and the second very late in the second. The Belgian midfielder found space at the top of the box, decided to dribble towards the D and let off a half-decent shot. A very fortunate defensive deflection caught Nick Gillekens off guard and all he could do was watch the ball hit the back of his net. This came after only eight minutes. Steuckers claimed his brace in the 84th minute from six yards out.
The win keeps STVV in the hunt for the chance to play in the Conference League next season. Gent leads the group with 27 points but just four ahead of Zahiroleslam’s team. The American will look to get on the scoreboard next time out when they travel to Mechelen on Friday night. The Yanks of Westerlo, 12 points from a chance to play in Europe, will host Gent.
Gent 5 – 1 Standard Liege
Marlon Fossey was in the starting lineup and put in an 85 minute shift as the Liegoise travelled to Gent and got dismantled by the high-flying Buffaloes. To be fair to the Walloons, they played a decent first half and kept pace with their hosts, exchanging first half goals. Matais Fernando-Pardo put Gent ahead after 23 minutes but five minutes later it was all square after Julian De Sart beat his own keeper or the OG.
The second half was a different story however. Less than 10 minutes after the restart, Omri Gandelman was celebrating his seventh goal of the season. Then in the span of 11 minutes the East Flanders boys scored thrice – Pieter Gerkens, Ismael Kandouss and Tarik Tissoudali all struck goal.
Les Rouches’ loss leaves them 10 points behind Gent. They’ll go up against last in the group, OH Leuven at the Sclessin on Saturday night.
Notes
Jamath Shoffner’s KV Oostende traveled across the country on Sunday evening to take on Seraing. Although the hosts scored first from the penalty spot, the Seasiders fought back to earn a point in this game that ended 1-1. Still looking to fight off relegation with just three games left, the American’s boys will have a tough game against first place Beerschot. A loss and a Seraing win will put KVO in the relegation spot. Fortunately, they will be playing the second place team, Lommel.
