After eleven league matches without a win, Eupen finally knows what winning is all about. At home, it defeated OH Leuven after a convincing performance 3-1. A particularly important victory for Eupen in the battle for preservation, it jumps over Zulte Waregem and runs further away from Seraing and Beerschot. OHL is left behind with 1 in 9.
Eupen – OH Leuven in a nutshell:
- Key moment: Around the hour, OHL is almost completely back in the game. Almost, because after Alloh misses, Kaba aims for the post and Nurudeen parries Dewaest’s reprisal. Eupen escaped the 2-2 and deepens his lead more than 10 minutes later.
- Man of the match: Smail Prevljak started the 1-0 with a blocked shot, continued to weigh on the OHL defense and secured the victory with his 9th league goal 20 minutes before the end. Another strong performance from the Bosnian goal-getter.
- Remarkable: A 1-0 win against Beerschot on December 11, 2021. That’s how long it has been since Eupen could triumph in the competition. After almost 3 months, the East Cantonians can finally cheer again. In the past 11 competition matches, they had only been able to collect 3 points.
- Rankings: In the previous confrontation with OHL, the world looked completely different for Eupen. The team from East Belgium recorded a resounding 1-4 victory in Leuven at the end of August and surprisingly jumped to the top of the Jupiler Pro League with an 11 out of 15. More than six months later, Eupen has descended into the lower regions.
Blitzstart from Eupen, deadly efficiency at OHL
Eleven league games without a win, you would doubt for less. None of that at Eupen, which got off to a strong start this evening. The game was barely 2 minutes into the game when Nuhu appeared alone in front of Runarsson after a nice one-two with Prevljak, but he missed the huge chance.
OH Leuven seemed a bit overwhelmed by Eupen’s fierce start and escaped again a few minutes later. Heris painted the ball perfectly on Magnée’s head, but his header hit Runarsson from close range. Moments later, the same Magnée had more success, his deflected shot gave Eupen the deserved lead.
It almost became 2-0 immediately afterwards, but a goal by Nuhu was rightly disallowed for offside. OHL was nowhere and yet the visitors came alongside out of nowhere on the half hour. After a wonderful cross pass from Schrijvers, Mercier brought the ball low in front of the goal in one time and Maertens finished neatly. One chance, one goal. Deadly efficiency at OHL.
Fool Runarsson puts Eupen on the way to profit
Eupen repeated his strong start in the second half. After just 4 minutes, the home side took the lead again. Nuhu cleverly turned Tamari into the wind and lunged hard. Within the reach of Runarsson, but he painfully missed the mark and worked the ball clumsily into his own goal: 2-1.
Just before the hour, Eupen almost lost his lead again. After Alloh misfired on a high cross, Kaba hit the post from close range, Nurudeen kept the home team upright on Dewaest’s reprise.
The visitors came no closer to the equalizer. On the contrary, after Tamari’s clumsy loss of the ball, Lambert Prevljak sent in deep and with a striking bang, the match was decided 20 minutes before the end.
