Noah Fadiga collapses to the ground
It only takes four minutes of play to see the Ghent players break the deadlock on Liégeois. If Matthieu Epolo makes a superb save to save a shot from Mathias Delorge, the resumption of the header Tsuyoshi Watanabe on the following corner crosses the goal line by a few centimeters (1-0, 5th). Led and dominated, Standard still had several good chances against goal, but Boško Šutalo, Dennis Eckert and Andi Zeqiri in turn missed their attempts. Opposite, Momodou Sonko comes very close to the break by finding the crossbar with a powerful shot.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, the match was briefly interrupted due to a medical scare. Victim of a head collision with Alexandre Salut, Noah Fadiga collapsed to the ground, visibly inert and unconscious, before finally getting up to give up his place (37th). A few minutes later, Ghent doubled the lead via Max Dean, author of a superb mid-distance sequence to deceive Epolo (2-0, 41st).
More fear than harm: Noah Fadiga collapses on the pitch after a head impact during Ghent – Standard (VIDEO)
The Rouches are sinking
Determined to defeat, Standard lacks aggressiveness and shows passivity. Following a corner, Archie Brown has plenty of time to deliver a sharp strike to kill the match (3-0, 51st). The people of Ghent are not satisfied and continue to press their opponent high. Souleyman Doumbia thus commits a gross error by sending a pass to Sonko, who finds the crossbar before seeing Dean take the ball back to add to the score (4-0, 59th).
The end of the match is very long for the Liégeois. In the final minutes, Matthieu Epolo made a terrible concentration error by not capturing a cross shot that was not very dangerous from Gilles De Meyer (5-0, 89th). The Rouches conceded their ninth defeat of the season, the most severe in terms of score and manner. Although renowned for their defensive solidity at the start of the season, the Liégeois completely collapsed and plunged a little further into doubt before the international break.
The compositions:
Ghent: Schmidt – Samoise (Araújo, 46e), Watanabe, Torunarigha, Brown – Ito, Delorge – Fatigue (Deafness, 38e), Gandelman, Sonko (Varela, 78e) – Dean (Gudjohnsen, 86e)
Liège Standard: Epolo – Hautekiet, Šutalo, Calut (Doumbia, 46e) – Camara, O’Neill, Alexandropoulos (Kuavita, 63e), Price, Fossey – Eckert (Bulat, 63e), Zeqiri (Badamosi, 63e)
