Scuttled by its own supporters, Charleroi lost at home to Union Saint-Gilloise (1-2)

Ait El Hadj in the Brussels eleven

Rik De Mil made no change compared to his last eleven of the past year. Keita was preferred to Andreayet fit to play. Organized et Titraoui were at the heart of the game while Stulic was aligned at the forefront of the Carolo attack. It was on the Brussels side that there was change. Again not present in the selection, Loïc Lapoussin was replaced by Niang. In defense, Leysen substitute Toolswho was on the bench alongside Mac Allister. Ait El Hadj found a starting place in place of Boufal, disappointing against Antwerp. Ivanovic, player of the month for December, was lined up in attack.

The Transparent Union for 45 minutes

The start of the match was rather calm with two teams observing each other. Neither Brussels nor Carolos took too many risks in the first ten minutes. Charleroi would nevertheless directly hit the mark on its first possibility. Heymans struck in a half-volley and Moris, his vision obscured, was forced to push the ball away… into the feet of Stulic who did not miss the target (1-0, 12th). The following minutes saw many duels fought and quite a few fouls. Like Vanhoutte, the first informed player. The match was then briefly interrupted because of smoke bombs set off by the Zebras supporters, determined to set the mood this Saturday evening! The Unionists reacted timidly to Charleroi’s goal. The Brussels residents did not really seem to be in their match with the only danger being a cross towards David (26th) who was flagged offside. The Union finally decided to accelerate with Ait El Hadj who was alone but Koné came out perfectly to give the Brussels player no time to strike correctly (35th). The score no longer moved and Charleroi was deservedly ahead at the break.

The Carolos’ notes after the defeat against the Union

The smoke bombs burned the wings of the Carolos

Returning from the locker room, Titraoui launched hostilities with a powerful strike but captured by Moris (46th). But Lothar D’Hondt unfortunately had to send everyone back to the locker room after another pyrotechnic show from the Carolos supporters. Charleroi could still count on its lucky star since Ivanovic, all alone in the small rectangle, took a cross from Niang but the Serb hit the post before seeing the linesman raise his flag (52nd). A minute later, Sykes headed with a lofted header but his shot went over. Charleroi tried to respond to the Brussels assaults with a distant strike from Titraoui but without danger (56th). It was then that we witnessed the gag phase of the match. Koné made a complete mistake by giving the ball directly to David. But the latter made the wrong choice and missed his pass towards Ivanovic. But it was only a postponement since on the corner which followed, Castro-Montes, mounted at half-time, took advantage of the passivity of the Charleroi defense to equalize (1-1, 58th). The Union put pressure on the Zebras, less sharp since the match was stopped. In quick succession, Ivanovic took advantage of a very nice pass from David to place a very clever dive ball and thus put his team in control (1-2, 63rd). The pace then dropped. The Union was content to manage its lead while Charleroi was completely lost since the match was interrupted because of its own supporters.

The Unionists’ notes after the victory against Charleroi

The score remained unchanged and the Union took three precious points in the race for the Top 6, despite a complicated first half. The Zebras can blame themselves for letting slip a match that they had mastered perfectly before the smoke bombs and the interruption of the match.

Relive the meeting here