Results:
Beerschot 3 Standard 2; Genk 1 Waasland Beveren 1; Cercle Brugge 0 Lokeren 1; Lierse 1 Anderlecht 1; Kortrijk 1 Club Brugge 1; Mons 2 Charleroi 3; Leuven 0 Zulte Waregem 1; Gent 0 KV Mechelen 2.
New dawn for Charleroi, old failings for Standard
On Saturday, Charleroi met Mons in one of the infrequent Walloon derbies. Despite home advantage, Mons saw the honours go to Les Carolos who celebrated their new management. After years under Abbas Bayat – sacked 20 coaches, one of which lasted one game – Charleroi have a new boss: local entrepreneur Fabien Debecq. Sporting matters are in the hands of Luka Peruzovic with young Yannick Ferrera as coach. It all seems to be working; some new faces have been brought in and the team seems to have some talent.
Saturday’s game was crazy; at one stage there were three goals in two minutes. With Charleroi leading 3-1 at half time, Enzo Scifo sent on Jeremy Perbet (last year’s league leading scorer) but it was to no avail. He did win a penalty (harshly awarded) in the last minute but Charleroi keeper Parfait Mandanda saved the day and the final score was Mons 2 Charleroi 3.
It was an odd week in the Jupiler League. Of the top seven, only Zulte Waregem won. They went to Leuven, never easy, and won by a single goal with debutant Thorgan Hazard prominent. Leaders Club Brugge went behind at Kortrijk thanks to a great strike by Bosnian Ervin Zukanovic. Carlos Bacca equalised – his fifth goal in four games – but the point came at a price; Ryan Donk and Lior Refaelov were injured and are doubtful for Bordeaux.
Anderlecht dropped more points, this time at Lierse. They had enough chances to win but they undoubtedly missed Dieumerci Mbokani who was rested ahead of Milan. Man of the Match was Lierse’s Dolly Menga who was shipped out by Standard in the summer. Anderlecht stay four points behind Club Brugge.
Standard went to Beerschot in a confident mood and were leading 2-1 with 30 minutes to go. Then the defence crumbled, although to be fair the whole team stopped fighting, and Beerschot scored two late goals. It’s now Standard’s worst start since 2003.
Gent were in third place going into the weekend but they slipped up at home to KV Mechelen. KV’s keeper Tomislav Pacovski was in brilliant form but the visitors should have been down to 10 men; Cameroon Antonio Ghomsi was the luckiest man alive as he stayed on the pitch after two horrible incidents.
Genk could only draw with Waasland-Beveren but they showed enough attacking promise – via Jelle Vossen, Steeven Joseph-Monrose and Julien Gorius – to feel good about their season. Beveren’s Michael Clepkens was another in-form keeper while Genk need to sharpen up in defence.
The final game saw bottom Club Cercle Brugge lose at home to Lokeren; the match is best forgotten.
Performance of the week: Charleroi
Player of the week: Dolly Menga
Positions:
Club Brugge 17 points; Zulte Waregem, Anderlecht (both 13); Gent, Kortrijk, Genk (all 11 points).
Leading goalscorers:
5 goals – Lior Rafaelov & Carlos Bacca (Club Brugge), Ibou Savaneh (Leuven), Mustapha Jarju (Mons)
4 goals – Franck Berrier (Zulte Waregem), Benjamin De Ceulaer (Lokeren/Genk), Thomas Meunier (Club Brugge), Imoh Ezekiel & Nacho Gonzalez (Standard).
JOHN CHAPMAN
@BelgoFoot
WORLD FOOTBALL WEEKLY 