Genk proved that they were worthy title contenders with a 2-0 defeat of Standard Leige at Sclessin. Admittedly, Standard are not the team of two seasons ago but they have a solid record at home. Genk started without Jelle Vossen, injured, and Marvin Ogunjimi, and still managed to score twice and control the game. There were debuts for Kennedy Nwanganga and the much travelled Anthony Vanden Borre. Both excelled, with the Nigerian striker getting the second goal and Vanden Borre proving an excellent deputy for the suspended David Hubert. Some observers, though, voted another nomadic player, Thomas Buffel, as man of the match. Genk seem to have strength in depth these days and that should help them in the play-offs. As for Standard Liege, they were woeful. Even worse, Meme Tchite picked up an injury and could be out for some time. With a visit to Ghent next weekend, they may miss out on the “Playoffs 1” altogether – see further down for an introduction to the play-offs.
Thanks to a win over Cercle Brugge, Anderlecht’s lead is still three points. It wasn’t pretty though and they played against 10 men for an hour. Anderlecht scored in the 89th minute, thanks to Mbark Boussoufa. It is to be hoped they were saving themselves for Ajax’s visit on Thursday night. As expected, Tom De Sutter got his chance to shine for the hosts but failed to take it. Instead, Brazilian midfielder Reynaldo, on loan at Cercle Brugge from Anderlecht, took man of the match honours. He received a standing ovation from the Anderlecht supporters when he was substituted just before the end and we can expect to see him at Parc Astrid next year. On the positive side, Silvio Proto extenedd his time without conceding a goal to 750 minutes; he needs another 23 minutes, unbeaten, against Westerlo next weekend to beat the Anderlecht record held by Jean Trappeniers (1967).
Club Brugge managed to defeat Zulte Waregem without Ronald Vargas and Ivan Perisic. A 2-0 victory was most welcome for coach Adrie Kostens who got a vote of confidence in the week. This was interpreted later in the press as notification that he would not be sacked if Club Brugge qualified for Europe next season. On the pitch. ex-Standard winger Wilfried Dalmat hit a screamer to put his side ahead (http://tiny.cc/0q5mb) and Joseph Akpala – having a rare start – hit the second.
Francky Drury’s Ghent picked up three useful points on Sunday at Kortrijk. It was a close game, settled by a bad error from stand-in keeper Damien Lahaye, who let a ball from “Pele” Mboyo go through his legs (http://tiny.cc/f5vi5). Until then, Lahaye had looked comfortable. Mboyo was playing against his old side and did not celebrate the goal – his first for Ghent. Yannine El Ghanassy did not start the game and Drury ssems to building an attractive and efficient side. Israeli striker Shlomi Arbitman has looked useful in recent weeks.
KV Mechelen had an excellent victory over Westerlo (3-1) and they stay in the top six (that would put them in the “playoffs 1”). Mechelen have no stars bit they are efficient; they have 14 points from their last six matches and are five points behind Club Brugge with three games in hand!
Lokeren could only draw with Charleroi, and that was a big disappointment for both sides. Charleroi – still bottom of the league – thought they had the three points in the bag but Lokeren equalised seven minutes from time.
Lierse drew 2-2 with Germinal Beerschot and Trond Sollied was happy enough as he felt his side showed chacter to come back twice. Sint Truiden – Eupen also finished all-square, which meant no change at the bottom of the table.
The season proper ends on March 20 and the playoffs will them start. That means some clubs (e.g. Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Genk) have just four matches to play while others (e.g. KV Mechelen) have seven to play. The top six at the end of the championship form a mini-league (“Playoffs 1”), starting with half of their points gained to-date. The teams finishing from 7th to 14th form two other leagues and enter in the “Playoffs 2”. More of that later as it’s getting late.
Also, the whole thing is up for grabs in 2011-2012 as the “Big 4” (which excludes Standard Liege) cannot agree on the future structure with the “little clubs”. Lots of politics involved as the “big 4” want to keep their place in the heirarchy and the smaller clubs want to go back to an 18 club first division. However, this is Belgium and finding a solution is not easy.
Positions
- Anderlecht: p 26, points 60.
- Genk: 26-57.
- Ghent: 25-49.
- Club Brugge: 26-45.
- KV Mechelen: 23-40.
- Lokeren: 24-39.
- Standard Liege: 25-39.
- Cercle Brugge: 25-35.
13. Germinal Beerschot: 25-21. 14. Eupen: 26-20. 15. Lierse: 25-17. 16: Charleroi: 26-15.