After the historic 27 out of 27 at the start of the season, Antwerp sees leader Racing Genk ever further out after a 6 out of 18. Charleroi won its first race after the dismissal of trainer Edward Still. Antwerp remains just second in the standings.
Charleroi-Antwerp in a nutshell:
- key moment: In the absolute final minute Antwerp gets an ultimate chance to equalize. Janssen’s header explodes on the crossbar. The spectacular rebound also does not end up between the posts.
- Man of the match: Defays asked for a good collective performance before the match and he got it. Without a real star, Charleroi defended excellently in team. And the counter-attacks were sharp.
- Remarkable: Antwerp started the competition with a perfect 27 out of 27, but it has been a lot less since then. They have only taken six points in their last six games.
Charleroi counters to a lead
Van Bommel started for the third match in a row with the same eleven players. His colleague at Charleroi had made some changes. It was immediately clear that Charleroi had a plan. The Carolo’s went for a strong organization and occasionally tried to come out sharp.
Antwerp had trouble disrupting the home team’s block. Janssen and Stengs did their best. Janssen claimed a penalty, but did not get it. Stengs was stopped by Koffi.
On the other side, it was immediately price. A beautiful counter resulted in Benbouali’s opening goal.
Antwerp tried to pick itself up again. They almost had the equalizer before half time after a nice one-two between Stengs and Janssen, but Koffi had a good reflex.
Koffi keeps Stengs from equalizing:
In the second half we got to see a similar picture. Antwerp got the ball and went looking for a goal. Again Janssen served his buddy Stengs, but the duo works better in the opposite direction.
Stengs finished hastily.
Charleroi’s troops did everything they could to hold out. Thanks to sharp defensive work, Antwerp had a hard time coming up with opportunities that were played out.
Van Bommel did everything he could and brought in an extra striker with Frey,
but that also opened the door at the back. Tchatchoua and Gholizadeh forgot to finish it.
In the very last minute of extra time, Antwerp still had the ultimate chance for a point, but Janssen’s header ended up on the crossbar.
The Stade du Pays danced with joy. The supporters saw the fighting spirit
of their team are awarded three points. Antwerp is disappointed and sees Genk walk away further in the stand.
Reactions coaches: “Only for a moment we lost control of the match”
Mark van Bommel (coach Antwerp): “We only lost control of the game for a moment and that was with the goal against. We completely dominate the match. We had very good chances and we just had to finish them.
By the way, that was the case in almost every game we lost so far. The last few weeks it’s all just not working and that’s a shame. By
On the other hand I also have to say that we are nowhere so far
played away. It also has a little bit to do with luck.”
Frank Defays (coach Charleroi): “I’m happy for everyone in this club. There is finally relief and joy. And that’s what everyone needed here.
I’ve seen a team that plays with its heart. We knew beforehand that if we could counter correctly once or twice, Antwerp would start to doubt.
I have had my best moments in this club. So it’s great when the supporters sing to me, but today we have to thank everyone. Whether they sing my name or not doesn’t really matter.”
