Not for KVC Westerlo again! The Gamecocks also relinquished their lead against OHL. It remained a fair division of points in the Kuipje. The match was overshadowed at the end by a serious injury for Nathaniel Opoku. The Ghanaian striker was carried off the field with a broken leg.
After a quiet start, the game broke open halfway through the first half. The first real danger came from the visitors. Thorsteinsson and Maertens took Gillekens under fire, but the Western goalkeeper was always ready. The opening goal fell on the other side. Tagir controlled a corner kick from Haspolat into the corner: 1-0. Not much later, Brunes cleverly slipped through the home defense. The Norwegian striker scored with a nice marker, but still saw the flag go up. The VAR took some time, but confirmed the narrow offside. So no equalizer for OHL, which tried again with a long shot from Sagrado. Gillekens took the ball out of the corner again. Colleague Leysen managed to save Haspolat’s free kick from the top corner in injury time. Excellent save from the Leuven goalie.
It remained to be seen whether Westerlo would be able to maintain its lead this time. The Gamecocks immediately moved forward, with two good chances for Stassin and Frigan. Afterwards, however, the game petered out and there was not much left to note. OHL pulled a little more forward towards the end. A clever move on the left via Maziz and Mendyl was pushed past Gillekens by Maertens fifteen minutes before the end: 1-1. Both teams tried to force something in the final phase, but the effort was clearly gone. No nine out of nine for OHL, but therefore no first victory for Westerlo either.
The match was also overshadowed at the end by a serious injury for Nathaniel Opoku. The Ghanaian striker had only just been on the field when he suffered a broken leg after a collision with goalkeeper Gillekens. He may have a long recovery ahead of him.
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90’+8′
End of second half
93′
Omhaal Vermant
Can Westerlo still force something? Vermant’s bicycle kick was a good attempt.
90′
Seven minutes extra
Is the sting in his tail again?
87′
Nathan Opoku is replaced by Joren Dom
Bad luck for the recently substituted Opoku, who had to be carried off the field on a stretcher after a collision with Gillekens.
85′
Tuur Rommens is replaced by Jordan Bos
83′
Yellow card for Franco Russo
83′
Yellow card for Nick Gillekens
81′
Mathieu Maertens is replaced by Nathan Opoku
81′
Ezekiel Banzuzi is replaced by Kento Misao
81′
Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson is replaced by Nachon Nsingi
77′
1-1 GOAL by Mathieu Maertens!
There’s the equalizer! Just when coach Garcia wants to bring in three fresh forces, Maertens pushes a low cross past Gillekens: 1-1. The build-up on the left through Maziz and Mendyl was excellent!
75′
Header Frigan!
Vermant with a measured cross to the head of Frigan, who heads not far wide of the goal frame!
74′
Far shot Thorsteinsson
Thorsteinsson tries with a long shot. Gillekens sees the ball coming well, but still has some difficulty!
71′
Maziz with the bicycle kick
Maziz tries nicely, but his bicycle kick lacks conviction. Piedfort is hit again, but without too much damage.
72′
Yellow card for Ezekiel Banzuzi
70′
Ravil Tagir is replaced by Roman Neustädter
70′
Yellow card for Richie Sagrado
65′
OHL injection
Maertens forces another corner, but it yields nothing for OHL.
61′
Josimar Alcócer is replaced by Allahyar Sayyadmanesh
61′
Lucas Stassin is replaced by Romeo Vermant
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Tags: Draw Westerlo OHL overshadowed injury Opoku Jupiler Pro League playoffs
 overshadowed by serious injury Opoku | Jupiler Pro League play-offs){kind=link}