Key moment: KV Mechelen is on roses after an excellent start to the match, but with a stupid red card Rob Schoofs does his own team the devil in minute 41. With one man less, Mechelen is suddenly faced with a difficult assignment.
Man of the match: In a negative sense Rob Schoofs. In a positive sense, Nikola Storm was the exponent of the fast Mechelen game in the first half. With a goal and an assist, he did just as well as in Thursday’s cup match in Waregem. With two goals, Adem Zorgane can also claim this trophy.
Rankings: One season is not the other. Last year Mechelen and Charleroi showed off in the Europe Play-offs, now they are in a colorless 12th and 13th place in the standings. The division of points today does not change that.
A gray season. That was the balance after 23 match days for both KV Mechelen and Charleroi in the Jupiler Pro League. Last year both clubs were still in the Europe Play-offs, this year volatility is the norm for them. KVM could gloat at the rebirth of Nikola Storm, who still shone in the cup on Thursday.
Storm’s top performance was soon followed up on Sunday: after barely five minutes he made it 1-0. A quick Mechelen dominated Charleroi before the break and came knocking again just before half an hour. Storm took on the role of declarant this time and gave Hairemans the 2-0.
There seemed to be no problem for Malinwa, until Rob Schoofs experienced a moment of bewilderment in the 40th minute. The midfielder went too bold on Nkuba and was rightly sent off by ref Laforge. Mechelen suddenly found itself in a difficult position.
Charleroi felt that something was still possible against ten men and increased the pressure after the break. Still, on the hour mark, the 2-1 came quite out of the blue: Zorgane scored with a deviated ball. Less than a minute later, the same Zorgane gave a new uppercut to KVM: he headed in the equalizer well across the corner.
Mechelen had to pull himself together and folded all the way back in the lock. Charleroi put together a weak final offensive, but twice came up against a strong Gaëtan Coucke, who kept the 2-2 on the board. Mechelen survived, Charleroi could not complain about a point given the first half.
