For Beerschot, 2024 has been the year of promotion, but since then it has also been the year of many penalties. One more has been added. Unlike Beerschot, OH Leuven can prepare for a relatively carefree transition from old to new.
OHL wanted to distance itself further from the zone of the playdowns, Beerschot wanted to connect with the teams in that zone. Major stakes for both teams and we had to wait and see how they would approach that. Most of the initiative lay with OHL. Beerschot tried to absorb the home team and look for depth. That partly worked, in the sense that it was a fairly even match before half time.
Only OHL was indeed the most dangerous team. Leysen sometimes had to straighten himself when visitor Reyners deviated, but it was mainly his colleague on the other side who caught the spotlight. Shinton was able to save Maziz’s shot and then saw the ball bounce over the top of the crossbar.
Beerschot goalkeeper Shinton keeps a strong game
On a deep cross, Schrijvers tried to lob Shinton with a header. The Beerschot goalkeeper had to do everything he could, but was not surprised. On the hour mark, Ikwuemesi scored with a powerful header towards goal. Shinton had a great performance and kept a clean sheet for the time being. It was the start of a new Leuven offensive, Beerschot was cracking more and more.
The ball didn’t seem to want to go in for the home team, until Ikwuemesi unleashed his devils once again. The Nigerian ignored his defender and neatly placed the 1-0 in the far corner. The attacker had been dry for a long time, but now he scored a very important goal for his team. A second goal was even possible.
Ikwuemesi the match winner at OHL
In the final phase, Ikwuemesi lifted the ball over Shinton and that was enough for 2-0. OHL jumps to tenth place with a satisfying victory over Dender and Westerlo. Beerschot is still six points behind KVK and STVV.
