Avoiding the cellar: there is nothing more in it for KV Oostende this season. After a fifth consecutive defeat – again with strong figures – the Kustboys just continued their free fall. Antwerp never even had to be really good to fool KVO, thanks to an excellent Fischer. ?
The sea is getting rougher by the week for KV Oostende. And last weekend KVO can call itself the big loser. You saw them take turns taking points, the basement teams. Seraing and Zulte Waregem move up, only Beerschot lost. The fact that KV Oostende also went missing for the fifth time in a row almost certainly means a conviction for relegation football this season. One can no longer ignore it. The mission for the Kustboys: avoid the last two places with that mediocre team. There is nothing more this year.
Blessin hammered together a solid block on the Tawny Owl, one that might have resulted in an unexpected point. Antwerp, which saw Nainggolan drop out after six minutes with a muscle injury, bit the teeth for a long time. Antwerp was much too sloppy offensively – Frey, among other things, did not know his day. And on the other side, KV Oostende simply couldn’t do much better. A dull and poor first half resulted in a logical 0-0 – here and there there was even some grumbling in the stands. It was all so messy, but good: Ostend was happy that it survived.
Free fall
After the break, our patience was not tested as much: we had just kicked off before we saw a goal. Samatta was sent into the alley and served Fischer, who had to blow the ball in. The spell was broken and Antwerp continued on the momentum: ex-Oostendeer Verstraete saw his shot just stopped by Hubert, but during the ensuing corner Frey headed in the 2-0. Match played, and with half an hour to play it was time to watch out for a pandoering. Fortunately for KVO, Samatta left too early with a quick third goal: his header was ruled out for offside.
Antwerp kept pushing at the right moments, while Ostend only got one good chance to really give something back. Ambrose got the chance to control and shoot calmly after a good play by Bätzner, but strangely enough chose to lay back again. So we didn’t get a connection goal, but we did get some treats for the Antwerp fans. Benson scored a wonderful goal after a miss by Capon: 3-0. Blessin hid deep in his winter coat: he must have wondered more than once what to do next. The margin at Beerschot is still eight points, but the level and the free fall at KVO are worrying. Cercle, among others, is creeping closer: the home match against Eupen next week may become very important.
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