Racing Genk got a major boost when Jelle Vossen returned and scored two goals in their 5-1 victory over Eupen (he now has 16 in 17 games). Genk were helped when Eupen’s Daniel Panizzolo was harshly sent off with the sore at 1-1. Kevin De Bruyne also returned for a few minutes just before the final whistle.
Standard Liege rather fortunately won 1-0 at home to Sint Trond. They had keeper Srdjan Blazic to thank for three top class saves; Cyriac got the goal – his eighth of the season. Bad news for Standard was a shoulder injury to Steven Defour.
Ghent also benefited from an exclusion when they got their winner after Charleroi were down to 10 men. Zulte Waregem continued their good form with 2 more goals for Habib Habibou as they beat Cercle Brugge 3-1 at the Jan Breydel Stadium. On Friday night, Club Brugge had taken three points from KV Mechelen, and again the winners played against 10 men for a long period of the match. This time though, there was no excuse for Christian Benteke’s elbow in Carl Hoefkens’ face.
On Sunday, Anderlecht could only draw 0-0 with a well-organised Lokeren. Anderlecht had Legear and Boussoufa back but could not score despite playing against 10 men for 65 minutes.
Positions: (all played 19 except Lokeren, who have played 18)
1. Racing Genk 42 pts; 2. Anderlecht 41 pts; 3. Ghent 38 pts; 4. Standard 33 pts; 5. Lokeren 33 pts; 6. Club Brugge 30 pts.