After the win against Anderlecht, Westerlo has now also booked one in and against Charleroi. Two quick goals from Reynolds and De Cuyper seemed to be enough for the Kemphanen to take the full loot to Westerlo, but Charleroi still fought to a 2-2. In the end, the three points went to Westerlo, because substitute Kyan Vaesen still worked the 2-3 in goal.
From the Stille Kempen to the Zwarte Land on a rainy Saturday evening. We can imagine nicer trips. Fortunately, the Westerlo supporters trickled into the Stade du Pays de Charleroi just in time or they would have missed their team’s dream start.
Reynolds fumbled with a terrible back pass in the opening minutes – Seigers threw himself just in time for Zorgane’s shot, but the American soon made up for his mistake with a bone-dry opening goal: hard shot through the bottom of the bar , Koffi had no chance. Although the 0-1 is mainly due to De Cuyper. The left back squeezed in, put two Charleroi players in the wind with a double dribble and then prepared the leather perfectly for his colleague on the right back.
30 percent possession, two goals
De Cuyper, who was called up for the national promises for the first time this week, simply continued with his brilliant performance against Anderlecht. On a quick counterattack, the West Flemish put Westerlo on a double lead before the tenth minute. The clever preparatory work was done by Foster. The South African first held off the mounted Knezevic, advanced centrally, seemed to get stuck for a while, but kept the overview. De Cuyper placed the 0-2 across the corner past Koffi in goal.
Remarkable: with almost seventy percent possession of the ball in the opening quarter, Charleroi monopolized the lead, but it was Westerlo that was on the scoreboard twice.
Westerlo then took his foot off the accelerator and tried to catch the Zebras in a controlled manner. A plan that worked for a long time. Charleroi combined well, a faint long shot from Zorgane was the only achievement of the home team in the first half hour.
Ten minutes before half-time, the Western defense gave way. With a simple one-two with Zorgane, Nkuba De Cuyper – too easy – in the wind, the freestanding Mbenza had the leather in the center but before tapping in.
The venom is (twice) in the tail
It clearly gave the Walloon citizen courage. Charleroi increased the pressure after the break, although that hardly resulted in a goal danger for a long time. Time and again the home team got stuck on a red wall. Westerlo barely got out of the embrace and with the input of Perdichizzi, De Roeck even threw in an extra defender. When Nkuba did find a hole, Bolat dived into the feet to prevent the equalizer.
Westerlo moaned, cracked and finally threatened to break. After a short corner, Badji headed the equalizer past Bolat, but Westerlo immediately put things in order. It hadn’t put together a decent attack for more than an hour, but after a perfect counter via Fixelles, Nene and Vaesen it suddenly took the lead. Vaesen’s first goal of the season.
After a six out of six and the first victory on the move, Westerlo climbs to tenth place, Charleroi is already going home for the third time this season with the buttocks exposed.
De Roeck: “Group has shown mental strength”
We had only blinked a few times and it was already 0-2 for Westerlo, then it suddenly became much more difficult. “It was a match with two faces”, Jonas De Roeck was honest in his analysis. “Two chances, two goals: you can’t start a game much better. After that we played too little football and we collapsed too much. That is a natural reaction, but we must try to put more pressure there and catch the opponent higher. That is a process in which this group still has to grow.”
With a goal just before half-time and in the final phase, Westerlo threatened to give up the early bonus. Substitute Kyan Vaesen finally crossed the line with the three points. “That equalizer was a bit of a mental blow. You fear losing points again, the group has responded excellently and shown resilience. We’ve lost more points that way in the past. Now three substitutes (Fixelles, Nene and Vaesen, ed.) still provide the three points.”
Three points, three goals, three chances. Westerlo’s efficiency in Charleroi was remarkable. De Roeck: “You know in advance that you will not create ten chances against a strong defensive Charleroi. If you can play together three big and open opportunities, then you have done something right. We will need such efficiency to continue to score points in the future. That we now have a six point lead over the relegation spots? I’m not dealing with that. By the next match, this group must learn from the work points. They are doing well so far, but we have to keep doing that.”
CHARLEROI: Koffi, Nkuba, Knezevic, Andreou (85′ Badji), Bessilé (65′ Kayembe), Gholizadeh, Zorgane, Ilaimaharitra, Mbenza (65′ Morioka), Heymans, Tchatchoua (73′ Descotte).
WESTERLO: Bolat, Reynolds, Seigers, Tagir, De Cuyper, Akbunar (73′ Dierckx), Madsen, Mineiro (68′ Perdichizzi), Chadli (73′ Vaesen), Foster (86′ Nene), Vetokele (68′ Fixelles)
GOAL: 3′ Reynolds (De Cuyper) 0-1, 10′ De Cuyper (Foster) 0-2, 36′ Mbenza (Nkuba) 1-2, 88′ Badji (Zorgane) 2-2, 89′ Vaesen (Nene) 2-3
YELLOW CARDS: none
REFEREE: Arthur Denil
SPECTATORS: 4,448
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