Playoffs 1
There were important wins for Anderlecht and Charleroi as the playoffs approached the halfway stage. Plumbing the depths were Standard Liege who lost again and were roundly condemned by many. Michel Preud’homme’s Club Brugge again looked to be down and out – this time at Gent – but once more they fought back and managed to salvage a point.
Olivier Deschacht (back, second from the right) lines up before facing Arsenal. (copyright John Chapman)
One welcome sign for the Brussels side was that the goals were spread throughout the team and not restricted to Aleksander Mitrovic. As for the fans, @Tejkarafi felt Anderlecht had just started their campaign while @olliman0085 reasoned a more audacious Anderlecht (and one with fewer Injuries) would have meant more points. Youri Tielemans has certainly come back refreshed but several observers reason that Chancel Mbemba’s return at centre back has been a bigger factor.
Hein Van Haezebrouck’s Gent looked to be heading to the top of the table after Swiss midfielder Danijel Miličević had made it 2-0 in the first half against Club Brugge. But it was not to be. Maybe it was Preud’homme’s introduction of Tom De Sutter, who worried the Gent defence, or perhaps it was that Gent’s players already had their minds on Thursday’s home clash with Anderlecht. Van Haezebrouck’s men are still second however and the party line is that their ambition is to simply be in the top three.
On Saturday, it was the Battle of Wallonia as Charleroi faced Standard Liege. It was no classic and the three points went to the Carolos. There was plenty of criticism for coach Jose Riga and, unlike Preud’homme, he seemed to have no idea what to do in terms of substitutions. @Standard_Yid wrote in to say that Riga will never be good enough to take the club forward and should go. From Ireland, @JBreen8 felt that “Igor De Camargo’s effort level was unacceptable and he shouldn’t have the captain’s armband.” He added that the club needs new owners.
Results: Anderlecht 5 Kortrijk 1; Charleroi 1 Standard 0; Gent 2 Club Brugge 2.
Standings: Club Brugge 38, Gent 36, Anderlecht 35, Charleroi 32, Standard 30, Kortrijk 30.
Man of the weekend: Deschacht (Anderlecht).
Next games
The games come thick and fast now with matches on Tuesday (Kortrijk-Standard), Wednesday (Club Brugge-Charleroi) and Thursday (Gent-Anderlecht). Club Brugge will need to be on their mettle against a Charleroi team that is on a bit of a roll.
Playoffs 2
After a complicated procedure, the winner of the Playoffs 2 will play the team finishing fourth in the Playoffs 1, for a place in the Europa League.
In Group A, Genk managed to defeat KV Mechelen (1-0) after losing to the same opposition by four goals last week. One of those two will win the group – both have home games next Saturday. Genk fans, however, are more ambitious, @DannyWelbeckham “hopes that (Peter) Maes takes us forward next season, there have been rough times for us Genk fans the last few seasons.” @tremans, though, questioned whether the Playoffs 02 could really be counted as football.
In Group B, Lokeren are unbeaten and seem to be on the way to win that group.
Playoffs 3
It’s all over now … for Cercle Brugge. Destroyed by a rejuvenated Lierse, they are relegated to division 2. Meanwhile, Lierse have to get ready for another six games – against Eupen, Leuven and Lommel to see who goes up to division 1 or (in Lierse’s case) stays there. @SeppeDams was not impressed with Lierse’s escape – he stated “(If) you’re last, you’re out.”
Leading scorers
Mitrovic (Anderlecht) 17; Emond (Beveren) 14; Santini (Kortrijk) 14.
Assists
Refaelov (Club Brugge) 11; Chevalier (Kortrijk), Patosi (Lokeren), Vazquez (Club Brugge) 10.
As it turns out, Charleroi went up to Brugge on a very exciting match for them.
When is the last time they have seriously contended and had a chance to have their fortune in their own hands?
this was exactly the situation on the eve of yesterday, before Brugge eventually won the game and opened a 9 point deficit from 5th place Zebra’s, who will host anderlecht on sunday but without many hopes of actually doing the improbable feature of winning the title this year.
It seems the race for 1st place is between 3 clubs, either one of the top 3 seated could pull it off, though they all have fierce competition until the very last match. Kortrijk are a very tough opponent at home but an 8 point deficit is to much for them to close in 5 matches. they can and will be very dangerous, for there is also a race for 3rd or 4th place that lead to Europa league qualification. So you got a playoff pool with clubs fighting either for the championship or Europe and if that’s not enough, surly all want to take revenge at the next match in case they lost the previous one…