No fourth win in a row for Standard in the Jupiler Pro League. At home against OH Leuven, the Rouches lost 0-1 after a very disappointing display. OH Leuven was more present in Standard’s 16 and crowned this thanks to a Kaba goal.
Poor start to the match
The fans stopped chanting in protest for the first 12 minutes and it seemed the teams on the pitch did the same as it took a long time for the match to open up. At the first whistle it seemed to be a fun match with dangerous shots from Ayensa and Teklab after 2 minutes, but that was a false alarm.
Because during the entire first half, Standard didn’t have any big chances, just an almost big chance. Abid beat Verstraete in the box and laid back to Ayensa, but he missed his shot completely; On the other side, Gil had hoped for some support in the box when he was sent deep on the right, but there was none. The wingback then tried it himself, on Epolo’s feet.
Ex-Rouche Noë Dussenne also ensured that Epolo always had to remain attentive because he was invariably sought out by Maziz during standstill phases. Often with success, but the experienced defender was not able to properly aim a single header.
The second half seemed to improve, with a shot from Lakomy immediately causing Epolo to doubt. The Liège captain decided to push the hot potato over his goal. But it was only a small flare-up because then it was again a long wait for target danger.
Changes bring about a turnaround
The audience started to grumble because of the quality the players showed. The trainers started making changes in the hope of improvement and Mathieu Maertens’ input in particular benefited the visitors’ intentions.
First, Maertens created an excellent shooting opportunity for Oscar Gil with a good through ball, but again the Spaniard’s finish stalled. Not much later he found depth himself after a good pass from Teklab. Epolo initially made a save but had no chance on Sory Kaba’s rebound
The Rouches barely had a response and could not break through the stiff block set up by Felice Mazzu on Sclessin. In the past, the former Charleroi coach was only able to win 3 times out of 25 mutual matches with Standard and was determined to celebrate his fourth three-pointer.
It was Standard’s defense that previously ensured that things did not get worse for them. Epolo made a world save on a shot from George, causing the ball to hit the crossbar. And that soon turned back in the face of OHL because Nkada had the ultimate chance in injury time, but the Standard attacker kicked narrowly wide.
Worth a look
