Antwerp / Ghent –
Was it the fog or just a genuine off day? AA Gent did not give up at all when visiting Beerschot and did not score a three-pointer away for the fourth time in a row. The home players showed a lot of effort and – each time thanks to Ghent – even had the best opportunities, but ultimately had to settle for a draw.
Sanusi and Matthys were missing at Beerschot, so the young Egyptian Fayed and Huiberts started at Kiel. Few surprises for the Buffaloes: Gerkens took Ito’s place in midfield, while Gudjohnsen was again preferred to Dean. Vrancken also introduced the expected names at the kick-off.
The visitors immediately took control of the game, but when Watanabe completely unnecessarily handed the ball over to Colassin, who hit the post with a long-range attempt. Also a first strong warning for the Buffaloes, who were caught remarkably often with sloppy passes in the opening phase and were therefore hardly able to get close to Shinton.
In the meantime, the home players’ belief grew visibly and when Gudjohnsen again lost the ball all too easily, Colassin was allowed to rush at Roef again, but the Ghent goalkeeper was alert and knocked the ball out of his goal. A second warning for the Ghent residents who started much too slowly.
Photo: BELGIAN
As the fog grew thicker, the Buffaloes gradually managed to get a better grip on the proceedings and even develop some pressure and when Gudjohnsen easily held off Mbe Soh and served Surdez, the Swiss hit the target but after the intervention of VAR Simonini it went well. Ghent party cancelled. It was only a rare impulse from the visitors who too often suffered unnecessary losses of the ball and as a result Beerschot quickly reached the break without sustaining any damage.
The Ghent fans were not at all impressed by the performance of their favorite team and chanted ‘We want to see football’, meaning they were really not concerned about the quickly rising fog. Vrancken intervened halfway and brought Sonko and Ito in front of the completely invisible duo Fadiga – Gandelman.
That double substitution certainly did not provide a surge of power and the Ghent visitors continued to play particularly uninspired football after the break. However, the home team did not offer much in return and around the hour mark they were still waiting for a full-fledged Ghent attack or a sharp Antwerp counterattack. The list of Ghent ‘unforced errors’ certainly did not become shorter in the meantime.
Photo: BELGIAN
For some of the home supporters, the visibility was apparently not bad enough and with a few torches of Bengal fire they caused even more misery. Ref De Cremer had no choice but to stop the match for a while. The action of Beerschot’s hard core did not receive much understanding from the other home fans, who emphatically expressed their dissatisfaction.
After the smoke had largely cleared, everyone suddenly stood up when the newly substituted Keita took his chance. The ball zoomed wide, but moments later the striker reappeared dangerously in the Ghent sixteen. The home fans shouted for a penalty due to alleged handball, but the VAR did not give in this time. Vrancken brought Dean and Varela in a final attempt to avoid another loss of points.
Missed opportunity for Beerschot
Suddenly, Roef’s lights also went out. The Ghent goalkeeper, under pressure from Keita, delivered to Reyners, but he hit the same Roef. The final phase was even entirely for the home team, but Ghent – not without difficulty – still kept a clean sheet. Little consolation for the Buffalo fans who traveled along, who also very emphatically fired on Vrancken after the break.
The European home match against Omonia Nicosia awaits on Thursday. The pressure on the Ghent boiler is rising. A new default would then undoubtedly throw AA Gent into a crisis. The draw undoubtedly caused mixed feelings at Kiel. The home fans certainly felt that their team missed a great opportunity for another home victory, but it undoubtedly gives the Antwerp citizen courage.
Beerschot: Shinton, Dagba (65′ Keita), Konstantopoulos, Mbe Soh, Fayed, Plat, Al-Ghamdi, Huiberts (78′ Henderson), Al-Sahafi Colassin (78′ Reijnders), Verlinden
AA Gent: Roef, Gambor (83′ Samoise), Watanabe, Torunarigha, Brown, Delorge, Gerkens (80′ Varela), Gandelman (46′ Ito), Fadiga (46′ Sonko), Gudjohnsen (80′ Dean), Surdez
Goals: /
Yellow cards: 28′ Gudjohnsen, 36′ Colalssin, 89′ Fayed, 90′ Varela
