Jupiler Pro League – matchday 21 – 18/01/26 – 19:16
| time | icon | player | homeTime | homeIcon | homePlayer | score | awayPlayer | awayIcon | awayTime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| goal door Ilias Sebaoui na 9′, 1 – 0 |
STVV’s success story continues. At home they had their hands full with OH Leuven, but a quick goal from Ilias Sebaoui was enough for the Truienaars. STVV thus leapfrogs Club Brugge to place 2. Participation in the Champions’ Play-offs is gradually looking certain.
STVV – OH Leuven in a nutshell
- Key moment
You needed a lot of hands to count STVV’s chances, but only one went in. Ilias Sebaoui was given plenty of space to kick and gave the Canaries an early lead. OH Leuven came close to 1-1 several times, but the score remained 1-0.
- Man of the match
Rein Van Helden was the best man on the field tonight. The winger regularly made clever long passes and also kept an overview at the front. With a little more efficiency from his teammates, he could have had a number of assists.
- Remarkable
Nine match days from the end, STVV is actually second in the Jupiler Pro League. The Canaries would not have dared to dream of that before the season. With 15 points more than the number 7, they should no longer give away their spot in the Champions’ Play-offs.
- Statistics
For opportunities you had to be in Limburg tonight. In total there were 41(!) shots towards the goal, although they often went over and wide. It was mainly STVV that missed opportunities, but OH Leuven also had enough chances to score at least once.
STVV swings
Should there still be opportunities?
Miraculously, it was only 1-0 in Sint-Truiden. That score was on the scoreboard early on thanks to Ilias Sebaoui. He gave STVV the lead after preparatory work by Van Helden and Muja.
Even before that, OH Leuven could have scored, but Kokubo stood in the way of Mathieu Maertens. That was not the last time, because just before half time the captain deflected the ball towards the goal, but again the STVV goalkeeper was there.
And in between? Complete dominance of a swinging STVV. It made use of the space and played football through it smoothly. There were no real opportunities.
We saw one like that on the other side. Wouter George hit the ball perfectly, but the ball hit the crossbar. Just under 1-1.
Just before Kokubo’s goal, Maziz headed wide.
Inefficiency squared
Despite the Limburg crusher, OHL gradually deserved that equalizer. Shortly after the break, Kokubo had to intervene again, this time on a header from Oscar Gil.
That’s the role of the visitors in the match, because STVV was then firmly in control. There was an open shooting opportunity for the Canaries almost every minute. Unfortunately for the home fans, the sights were not focused.
Ito, Muja, Merlen, Goto, … They all couldn’t get the ball between the posts. And if that ever worked, there was Tobe Leysen. Especially his parade on Yamamoto’s shot was more than fine.
OH Leuven emerged again in the deep final phase. Substitute Abdoul Traoré kicked over the biggest chance of the final offensive.
The score at Stayen was 1-0, which puts STVV in 2nd place. OH Leuven is swearing, because while its competitors at the bottom are winning, it is suffering a defeat.
Vrancken: “The downside was efficiency”
Wouter Vrancken (trainer STVV): “We play good football. They fall behind early and there was room in the transition. We did that well. Only the efficiency was not there. We have to kill the game faster. We have had enough opportunities for that.”
“I saw the fighting spirit to go for the three points. The team is fighting for the result. I am very proud of that. You can see that they are having fun on the field. We keep our feet on the ground. The most important thing today is that we take distance from 7th place.”
Happy Mazzu (coach OH Leuven): “We lose the match in the first 25 minutes. Not all tasks were fulfilled. We were not at the appointment in the organization. After that we start to play better. Based on the second half we deserve at least a point. We played risky – with four attackers – and created chances.”
“It is frustrating. STVV played on the counter and certainly created opportunities. We have also won fewer matches. We have to work on that. But it is a bit frustrating, because we deserved a point.”
Tobe Leysen: “We started too weak”
Robert-Jan Vanwesemael (STVV): “We seemed to be playing handball. We had so many chances and the ball just didn’t go in. We have to keep doing this way. The balls will go in. One is enough. We know our qualities, but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves.”
Tobe Leysen (OH Leuven): “It was a very open match with a lot of chances. We just missed it. We started too weak and just then we conceded a goal. Then we regrouped. The chances came, but they didn’t go in. How many times has it not been that we let ourselves be taken at the start of the match? It’s too much.”
END: 1-0
There’s the final whistle. STVV beats OH Leuven by the smallest margin and passes Club Brugge to second place.
The Limburgers dominated at home and created a lot of chances, but they were no longer created after the quick 1-0. OH Leuven could have turned the corner, but Kokubo and the crossbar saved STVV.
Is it the end of the story for OH Leuven? STVV wants to counter, but Ikwuemesi stops Vanwesemael incorrectly and gets a yellow card. Sint-Truiden should be able to play this out.
An extra 3 minutes will be added.
Schotje Vanwesemael
There are only three minutes added. In the meantime, we note another chance from STVV. Leysen had come out of his goal and Vanwesemael smelled his chance, but his shot lacked conviction and the OHL goalkeeper was now back in his goal.
Once again the ball hangs dangerously in Kokubo’s sixteen. Traoré is allowed to take a swing, but he kicks half wide of the ball. OHL is getting closer to 1-1.
STVV is playing with fire. Kokubo comes far out of his goal and gives the ball away to Ikwuemesi, but he cannot shoot on goal.
Is this the start of OH Leuven’s final offensive? Ikwuemesi and Lakomy kick towards goal in a carom, but somehow STVV blocks the shots.
Traoré kicks over
Look, there’s OH Leuven suddenly again! Maziz makes the move and finds Traoré, one of the three players who have just come on. His shot goes over the body of an STVV player.
Five substitutions
About ten minutes before the end, Wouter Vrancken makes his first two substitutions. Hata and Sissako enter the field. At OH Leuven there are even three substitutions, including Siebe Schrijvers.
STVV’s rain of opportunities continues. Yamamoto kicks towards goal from outside the box and the ball goes towards the far corner, but Leysen makes an excellent save.
