Saint Union finds life in Title race as back to back wins against Royal Antwerp put them within one point Derby Awaits #2116
Saint Union 4 Royal Antwerp 1FT
The Jupiter Belgium pro league Is a couple weeks away from reaching its conclusion. It has really heated up that much more substantially over the last couple of days. We are staring at a possibility of three different clubs that inevitably seem to be fighting for the title. To make matters even better, all of them will play each other again soon. There has been a lot of twists and turns among the masses in the playoff round here in Belgium. On Sunday afternoon we would be back Stade Joseph Marien In Brussels as Saint Union would host Royal Antwerp for the second time in a number of days. Alexander Blessin’s side finished top of the regular season. Six points clear of Anderlecht and Club Brugge. They seem to have a stranglehold on the table. They have not been Champions since 1935. They have finished second each of the last two seasons as the title was snatched from them in the final seconds of the season a year ago against the very team, they are about to play again. Despite their position they lost four consecutive matches to start the playoff. Giving a big boost to both Anderlecht and Club Brugge as they found themselves back in the title race in a massive way. They needed to fight against it and start winning matches because another couple of points dropped would kill the possibility of them winning the title that they waited So long to accomplish. In midweek they traveled to Royal Antwerp A club not in the title, race and at the bottom of the playoff table or at least near it coming in to the match. Saint Union beat Royal antwp at the Bosuilstadion earning a 3–0 win. They would now play the very same side in hopes of beating the Champions again to reincarnate in the title race. Mark van Bommel side doesn’t have any chance to win the title. However, a performance and a result for them could heavily affect the title rate at the moment. Mark van Bommel has been identified as A strong candidate for the next AC Milan manager. He’s going to want to put a strong showing to at least pick up as many results as possible to end the season. They are the defending Champions. The team they prevented from winning is sitting right there in front of them on a Saturday night. The Belgium pro league is heating up in the most dramatic way possible. There’s not that many matches left, but still so many questions to be answered. Saint Union would open their doors in one of the smallest stadiums in Belgium football to take down the Champions for the second time. In a matter of days.
Union At home looking to even further reassess themselves in the title race. In the fifth minute Christian Burgess It’s on the break as he releases a through pass into Nilsson The defense closed in on him as he was forced to take a strike from a complicated angle Lammens comes up with the save. They kept the pressure going looking very active in the early installments of The clash. In the 15th minute they got into those dangerous spaces again as Lazare Amani drags an effort from distance into the corner only for Lammens comes up with it again. A strong start from Union as they test the goalkeeper a couple times early on. Remember they only have one victory in the playoff round and need more points to truly challenge the other two for the title. Just as Union was picking up momentum at the right time. Truly showing an elegant start. Royal Antwerp forced them into a mistake and unfortunately Saint Union had to pay for it. In the 17th minute after a miscommunication defensively Vincent Janssen sends it into the top corner past. Anthony Morris as Royal Antwerp takes a 1-0 lead. Royal Antwerp was beaten quite easily a few days ago. Now away from home at Union. Finds themselves in a good position. Nothing to play for really but has just made Union’s life exponentially more difficult. It was the first chance of the entire game and they managed to cash in on it. In the 25th minute Charles Vanhoutte delivers a ball into Amoura He follows through from the left side of the box but Lammens Is there once again. They kept putting themselves in position to take the match back. In the 34th minute Gustav Nilsson delivers a headed pass right into the space of Amoura strikes from close range But still can’t find the touch However, their moment would arrive. In the 37th minute Koki Machida delivers a short pass into the box. The defense closes down but Gustaf Nilsson drills it from close range in to the back of the net as they find their equalizer. Union deal with early adversity and now the match very much in their control. Royal Antwerp scored on the only shot they have had this far. They barely had any of the ball. The truth is Union have been dominating and continuing to do so. The equalizer only going to play into the momentum of the game that now seems having shifted in their control. It didn’t take very long for Union to then find themselves in the lead. In the 39th minute Lazare Amani pushes it into the oppositions box. He picks out a well-timed pass into Kevin McAllister as he sends it write down main Street past the keeper as Union to take the 2-1 lead. He is the older brother of Liverpool midfielder. Alexis McAllister. He has found quite a home in Belgium after recently moving from Argentina to Europe. Their overall control in the match continued into the late stages of the first half. In the 42nd minute Gustaf Nilsson buries his foot through a headed pass from Amoura heading for the corner but an initial save is made by Lammens. In the 45th minute Cameron Puertas looked for an opportunity to extend it even further. He has been the biggest difference Maker this season But has had a quiet first half He tries one from distance But his strike is deflected as that would end the first half with Union having come from behind to hold a 2-1 lead.
Union has been in the driver seat for the entire duration of that first half. They made a silly mistake and Royal Antwerp took advantage. However, they hit back immediately with two quick goals. They’ve put pressure on the opposing defense and even though they have forced some big time saves from Royal Antwerp they are putting them under huge pressure. Winning this match is necessary. It is a requirement they need this result. Royal Antwerp would need to play much better in the second half to turn it around because it does seem like all the momentum in the match is swayed towards one side and it feels as if they’re just getting warmed up. That sentiment was certainly backed up with a rapid start to the second half as Union have been foaming at the mouth and ready to reignite themselves in the title. Race. Union got after it immediately and before not too long the inevitable would occur again. In the 54th minute Amoura pushes it forward before releasing a brilliant through ball leading into the counter attack, The explosive attributes from Cameron Puertas was on full display. He left everyone in the dust keeping himself on side before sending it past the keeper as most likely the nail in the coffin as Union take a 3-1 lead. It would be his 13th goal of the season He also has 21 assists. On top of that he’s operating on 34 goal contributions. He is without question without debate the player of the season and as we know, the likelihood of him being back in Belgium next season is low as sharks certainly will be swirling when the transfer window opens. The 25-year-old has been absolutely incredible this season with another display of that. Union kept up the pressure and kept more or less. Just gliding to maximum points. They dominated the ball. Didn’t really let Royal Antwerp get anything going. In the 61st minute Amoura pulls up from distance to add more fuel to the fire But can’t quite get the touch on it. Essentially Union just kept their ball control as it was very possession-based football for most of the second half. Royal Antwerp had very little possession. Couldn’t move the ball when they had it and couldn’t push the ball into the areas where they could make some sort of dent. However, in the late stages in the 88th minute Victor Udoh struck from the right side of the box But Anthony Morris got his hands on it to make the save. The time was running out as Union. Just trying to kill the clock. Then in the 93rd minute Cameron Puertas on the last side of the game, rips a curler into the right corner to add more to the annihilation as he scores his 14th goal of the season. Union absolutely run rugged securing a 4-1 victory.
Union has found a little bit of life in the title race. They have reincarnated and now still have a good chance to now go and win the title. All seem to be lost at the start of this stage of the season. They lost. They lost their first four matches. In a sense, it obliterated the lead that they had going into the playoff round. Losing the Brussels Derby 2 weeks ago made their situation even worse. Then losing to Club Brugge their entire season. Begin to fall apart. Truly in the last week they have beaten Royal Antwerp twice. Is perfectly reasonable to say that they are the worst team among those in these championship round. However, the matches have been critically important and especially this stage. Anderlecht ended up dropping points Genk has lost two matches in a row. It has created a scenario where they’re going to battle Anderlecht and Club Brugge For the title. They have been waiting since 1935. They have finished second the last two seasons. This campaign was supposed to be the one that breaks the misery and they can finally lift the title. They have the materials. They have the key players. They just need to perform the way they have been playing all season. They had a really unfortunate skit at the wrong time. This has been two excellent performances in a row. Again granted it’s against the same team that are nowhere near the title race. That said, they were critical matches because without these results they don’t find themselves. From this situation. They’re still going to have to play The heavy hitters the ones they’re competing for the title against. However, with the six points they have had in the last two matches, they are now within reaching distance of still a part of the title. Cameron Puertas with a ridiculous performance, two goals Sunday afternoon. He has 14 goals and 21 assists this season. Then you look at Amoura as he has been heavily a part of the buildup with their victory on Saturday has 23 goals and seven assists in his own right Than Gustaf Nilsson with 15 goals and seven assists this season. The reality is they have all the attacking pieces required to beat any of the teams that run in their way. They’re going to be some tough matches. Coming up the Brussels Derby next weekend a match. It feels like they cannot lose. They can’t afford to because of how well Club Brugge has looked lately. They’re going to have to cut through all of them. They have the Midfield and attacking requirements defensively they can’t make mistakes and make unforced errors if they clean it up and play mistake free defensively I promise you they will win the title. This result keeps them alive inside of it. Some big games left with four matches to go and he slip up and it could be all over. They’ve taken a big step towards a title. They’re going to have a chance to make this up. Both of the teams they’re fighting for. The title with both are still on the schedule. If they win the rest of the games this season they can still win the title. Their bad Start is just a level of adversity that they had to go through. If they pull this off it’ll be some story.
