Belgian Pro League Matchweek 12 Review | OneFootball

With 12 rounds now complete in the Belgian Pro League, the table is finally starting to take some sort of shape. The middle remains congested, while at the bottom Dender are beginning to be cut adrift.

Friday’s action: Zebras finally end losing streak

Charleroi ended a run of four defeats in a row with a late victory over Anderlecht at home. It took until the 82nd minute for either side to break the deadlock, and it was the hosts who managed to do so. A corner to the back post by Parfait Guiagon was not dealt with by Colin Cooosemans, with defender Cheick Keita on hand to earn Rik De Mil’s Charleroi a crucial three points.

Saturday’s action: Dender grab a point, OH Leuven snatch one and Gent earn all three

Dender picked up just their fourth point of the Pro League season away to Westerlo on Saturday afternoon. The basement side took the lead after just three minutes thanks to striker David Toshevski’s first goal of the season. They held on for just over an hour until Thomas Van den Keybus grabbed his first of the season to earn the hosts a point. This means Westerlo have won just one in five, while Dender are still awaiting their first win of the season.

KV Mechelen looked to have grabbed another win when Therence Koudou made it 1-0 to the hosts just before the 75th minute mark at home to OH Leuven. The away side, who are set to bring in Felice Mazzu as their new head coach, rallied to strike at the death thanks to defender Ewoud Pletinckx. The fighting spirit shown by the side will certainly have given Mazzu something to build on as he takes charge of the strugglers.

Gent’s inconsistent season continued with a 4-0 home victory over Standard Liege. After losing 4-1 to Zulte Waregem last weekend, the side saw both Siebe van der Heyden and Omri Gandelman help themselves to braces against Standard. Max Dean also made his long awaited return from injury and picked up an assist for Gandelman’s second. The win means Gent are nine points off of Union St Gilloise in first.

Sunday’s action: More woes for Antwerp, RAAL finally score and Kevin delivers for Union

Antwerp’s dismal season continued with a 1-0 home defeat to Club Brugge on Sunday. Romeo Vermant scored the only goal of the game after 12 minutes as the hosts missed a number of chances to level things. Club Brugge were far from convincing, but for Antwerp head coach Stef Wils the pressure is beginning to mount.

Cercle Brugge and Zulte Waregem both had chances to score plenty more than they did. The game ended 1-1 despite Cercle finishing with an xG of 2.30 with 18 shots at goal, while Zulte Waregem also managed 18 with an xG of 1.61. Jeppe Erenbjerg continued his fine form with the opening goal before a fantastic header from Oumar Diakite made it 1-1.

Genk made it 21 games in a row that they have conceded when they drew 1-1 at home to RAAL La Louviere. The away side scored their first goal in three games when Jordi Liongola struck early on. Daan Heymans grabbed his first since joining Genk from Charleroi in the summer just before half-time. Genk had plenty of chances but were denied by Marcos Peano, who pulled off a world class save in the closing minutes.

Union St Gilloise bounced back from their 4-0 defeat in the week to grab three points against Sint Truiden. Kevin Rodriguez came off the bench to help himself to a brace as the hosts battled against a well organised Sint Truiden side. The Canaries will be frustrated not to have scored any of their 11 shots, while Union will be happy to continue to maintain their position at the top of the Pro League table.

League Table

Top scorers

Images courtesy of FotMob

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson