It has become apparent over the course of the first half of the Pro League season that American teams do not fare very well with the three teams picking up just a point over the weekend.
Standard Liege 0 – 1 Gent
Marlon Fossey put in a 90 minutes shift for Les Rouches in front of their home fans but the Wallonian giants suffered a close defeat at the hands of the Buffaloes of Gent.
Franck Surdez had to come off the bench in the second half to seal the victory, his second of the season, with just eight minutes left on the clock. The Swiss attacker used his head when Max Dean’s shot from the middle of the box was blocked and it fell to him to put it into the back of the net.
Standard never got a shot on target in the game and had just 37% possession, so expecting anything from the game was not going to happen. They will however get to try once more before the year ends when they head to Mechelen on the 26th of December.
Westerlo 1 – 1 Mechelen
After three successive losses, Bryan Reynolds and his Westerlo side were able to scape out a point for an early Christmas present against seventh place Mechelen. The Texas defender was in the starting line-up and played the duration while Griffin Yow didn’t step onto the field until the 64th minute when he replaced Tottenham Hotspur loanee Alife Devine.
It was the visitors who took the lead 10 minutes before the intermission when Rob Schoofs scored from a corner kick for his third net-bender of the season. With overall possession shared 50-50, KVC got their reward for persistency when Luka Vuskovic used his head to tie the game up. This was also from a set piece situation. It was the Croatian’s fifth of the season.
With just one game left on the 2024 calendar, De Kemphanen will travel to Brugge on the day after Christmas to take on the reigning champions, Club Brugge.
Notes
Still out due to injury, Kahveh Zahiroleslam watched from the stands as his Sint-Truiden side were defeated by Sporting Charleroi down in Wallonia by a 2-1 score line. The loss leaves them just one place from the bottom of the Pro League standings. Up next before the short break is a home game against Cercle Brugge.
Keyden Pierre played the entire game when the Genk Reserves traveled to the Borinage to take on Francs Borains. The young Smurfs got a point as the game ended 2-2. The team will not see action again until next month when they travel to Brussels to take on the Anderlecht Futures.
