It wasn’t a good opening weekend for the Belgian Yanks as the play-offs got underway in the Pro League.
Dender 1 – 0 Westerlo
Bryan Reynolds and Griffin Yow both found themselves in the starting line-up for Westerlo as they began their play-offs that will hopefully lead to a place in a UEFA Conference League play-off in the summer. Yow played for 80 minutes but Reynolds went the distance and had the dubious dishonor of putting the ball into the back of his own net, which was the only goal of the game in Dender.
To be fair, the newcomers to the league from East Flanders looked the better team over the 90 minutes outshooting the Gamecocks 15 to 7 with 9 shots on target, keeping Andreas Jungdal busy between the posts. The American defender’s blunder came after just 26 minutes when a cross into the box for
Aurélien Scheidler was right on the money but before he could get his head to it from a couple of yards out, the Texan intervened and got his foot to the ball but could not push it wide of the post.
The lost points leaves Westerlo in sixth place in the group of six. All is not lost however; there are only two points between first and last place and with 9 games to go, it’s anybody’s to win or lose. The two Yanks will next go up against OH Leuven.
Standard Liege 2 – 2 Mechelen
Les Rouches twice took the lead when they hosted Mechelen but twice they let the Kakkers back into the game and in the end had to share the points with the Flemish side. Marlon Fossey went the distance for the Walloons.
After some fancy footwork by Jean Amani, after beating a few defenders, he slipped the ball to Andreas Hountondji who slammed it just inside the near post from 19 yards out. A slight deflection did help, however the lead lasted all of a dozen minutes because Patrick Pflucke was in the right place when the ball entered the box and the German striker did what strikers do and tucked it past the Standard keeper.
The lead was restored minutes before the intermission this time with Hountondji providing the assist to Amani as the Ivorian scored only for the second time this season. The 68th minute saw the equalizer that denied les Rouches their three points when second half sub Keano Van Rafelghem, who just came up from Challenger League side Patro Eisden in January, found the net for the first time for his new team.
Next up for Fossey and his team will be a visit to Charleroi to take on Wallonia’s other Pro League team.
Notes
Kahveh Zahiroleslam never got off the bench for Sint Truiden as they came away with a 1-0 against last place Beerschot in the relegation group. The three points leaves the Canaries at the top of the group and seven points clear of being relegated with five more play-off games to go. Next up STVV will host Kortrijk.
Kayden Pierre went the distance for Genk Reserves in their 1-0 loss to RAAL La Louviere in the right back position. The loss leaves the little Smurfs in the relegation zone and it’s beginning to look as if they will be playing in the third division next season if they can’t put a few wins together.
Devon De Corte got a rare start for the Anderlecht Futures and put in a 79-minute shift in a 3-1loss against promotion hopefuls, Zulte-Waregem. Next up they’ll host Lokeren.
Justin Che played the full 90 when Patro Eisden travelled to take on Royal Liege. The game ended 2-2, leaving Patro 10 points shy of an automatic promotion spot with five games to go. They’ll host league leaders Molenbeek over the weekend.
