KAA Gent will be without defensive leader Christian Burgess for the next two to three months and has lost both its unbeaten season start and its place atop the Jupiler Pro League table, after a 2-0 defeat at Lommel SK on matchday 10, De Standaard reported.
The 35-year-old Englishman missed Sunday’s match in Lommel, and the club has now confirmed why: an MRI scan showed a small fracture in his shin bone near the ankle. KAA Gent said on social media that Burgess will not return until after the winter break at the earliest, Sporza reported. The injury is a major blow for a team that now faces a busy run of league and UEFA Conference League fixtures without its defensive anchor.
Burgess fracture confirmed: two to three months on the sidelines
The club’s medical update, communicated via social media and reported by Sporza, states that “an MRI scan today confirmed a small fracture in the shin bone at ankle level.” With that diagnosis, Gent will have to do without Burgess until next year, according to the club’s statement. The timing means the Belgian side must get through the remainder of the autumn, including a trip to Finland this week, without the player it describes as its rock at the back.
Burgess’s absence was already felt on Sunday, when Gent slipped to its first league defeat of the season in the same match in which its unbeaten run and first-place position disappeared in one stroke.
Lommel ends Gent’s unbeaten run with two late goals
Lommel SK took the three points at the Soevereinstadion thanks to goals from substitutes in the final quarter of the match, Nieuwsblad reported. Juho Talvitie struck the 1-0 from outside the penalty area in the 82nd minute, beating Gent goalkeeper Roef, and Dorde Gordic made it 2-0 five minutes later after a cross from Schoofs.
Gent had started brightly and nearly took the lead after ten minutes, when Momodou Lamin Sonko’s crossed shot came back off a Lommel defender’s foot and hit the post. But the two teams largely held each other in balance until Lommel found the winner late, with Nieuwsblad describing the victory as deserved for the home side.
The match also featured a brief VAR controversy: referee Kevin Van Damme initially showed Mathias Delorge a red card for a challenge on Tom Reyners, but after a review by VAR Quentin Pirard the decision was downgraded to a yellow, Nieuwsblad reported.
What the defeat means in the Jupiler Pro League standings
The loss dropped AA Gent to third place with 25 points, two behind leaders Club Brugge and one behind Union, according to Nieuwsblad’s report of the standings. Lommel, with 15 points, moved up to a shared sixth place alongside Racing Genk.
For Gent, the result ended an unbeaten start to the league campaign that had also carried the team to the top of the table; both were gone in a single afternoon, Sporza noted.
Gent heads to Finland without Burgess in the Conference League
The Buffalo’s must now regroup quickly: on Thursday they travel to KuPS in Finland for a UEFA Conference League fixture, the first of the “busy months” ahead that also include continued Jupiler Pro League play, Sporza reported. De Mil’s side will have to cross the winter break without Burgess, beginning with that away trip.
𝙐𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙨 Een MRI-scan heeft vandaag een kleine breuk aan het scheenbeen ter hoogte van de enkel bevestigd. Er wacht Christian een revalidatie van twee tot drie maanden. We wensen hem veel sterkte en een spoedig herstel. We’re with you every… pic.twitter.com/bQx3U0QgKD
Head coach Rik De Mil acknowledged the length of the absence and pointed to the squad, saying the team must let the strength of the group speak, HLN reported. He also indicated that Josué Vergara is available to start for the trip to Finland, with Christian Burgess sidelined by injury.
Gent details Burgess’s recovery timeline
How long will Christian Burgess be out? KAA Gent’s medical update, reported by Sporza, gives a two-to-three-month absence, with a return not expected before after the winter break.
The 2-0 defeat at Lommel on matchday 10 ended Gent’s unbeaten start; the club sits third with 25 points, two behind Club Brugge, Nieuwsblad reported.
An away UEFA Conference League game against KuPS in Finland on Thursday, the first fixture of the run of matches Gent must play without Burgess, Sporza reported.
The club’s next official update on Burgess’s recovery timeline is expected to come through KAA Gent’s own channels, with the return targeted for after the winter break.
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