It is getting tight at the top and the bottom of the Belgian Pro League after 18 rounds. Club Brugge had a new man at the helm to take on lowly Dender, while results this weekend forced Genk to make a switch. All eyes are now on Cercle Brugge to see if they might do the same.

Friday’s action: OH Leuven back on track

OH Leuven returned to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory away to Standard Liege. Sory Kaba grabbed his fourth goal of the Belgian Pro League season in the second half to end OH Leuven’s run of four games without a win. Standard Liege remain inconsistent and there were certainly some heated words exchanged between players and the home fans at the end of the game.

Saturday’s action: Cercle in trouble, inform Sint Truiden lose in Brussels

Cercle Brugge are still waiting for a first Belgian Pro League win since the 23rd of August. They suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to high flying KV Mechelen. Flavio Nazinho had pulled one back for the hosts after goals from Frederik Hammer and Lion Lauberbach, only for Gora Diouf to score almost immediately after coming off of the bench to make it 3-1. Gary Magnee’s late penalty was not enough as Cercle Brugge begin to lose touch with guaranteed safety.

RAAL La Louviere halted their slide into the bottom four with a 2-2 draw away to Zulte Waregem. They were made to come from behind twice, with Anton Tanghe scoring for Zulte Waregem from the spot and the impressive Joseph Opoku also finding the net. Pape Moussa Fall continued to show that he is RAAL’s best option upfront with the first equaliser late in first half stoppage time. That late fight was repeated at the end of the game, with Nolan Gillot equalising for RAAL in the 93rd minute.

Anderlecht responded to their 4-0 defeat away to Westerlo last weekend with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Sint Truiden. It was their own player who put them behind, with on loan striker Keisuke Goto showing his parent club his ability from the spot. Goto then watched as Nathan Saliba equalised in the 68th minute for the Mauves, with Nilson Angulo grabbing the winner. Angulo has been in great form this season and now has four Belgian Pro League goals this season alongside five assists.

Sunday’s action: Club Brugge demolish Dender, Union drop points again

Sunday kicked off with a resurgent Antwerp against a Gent side now under the charge of new head coach Rik de Mil. The former Charleroi man saw his side suffer a 2-0 defeat as Gyrano Kerk and Anthony Valencia scored the goals. Antwerp only had 35% of the ball but were more efficient than wasteful Gent, who could not convert any of their 15 shots. De Mil has a job on his hands to make Gent more consistent, while Antwerp are moving up the table rapidly.

Ivan Leko’s first Belgian Pro League game in charge of Club Brugge (for his second spell at the club) was a resounding success. Despite falling behind to Dender’s in form Bruny Nsimba, Christos Tzolis took control of the game for the away side. Tzolis scored twice and provided one assist as Romeo Vermant also grabbed a brace alongside one goal from Alexander Stankovic as Club Brugge won 5-1. The result brought to an end a fine run of form for Dender, while for Club Brugge it was a reminder of what they can do when they are in form.

De Mil’s old club Charleroi battled to a 1-1 draw with league leaders Union St Gilloise. Promise David gave the Brussels side the lead just before half-time, and they looked set for another three points until Antoine Colassin came off the bench in the 76th minute. The former Anderlecht and Beerschot striker grabbed an equaliser for the Zebras in the 81st minute. VAR then intervened to deny Charleroi a late winner.

The final game of the weekend was also the final game in charge of Genk for Thorsten Fink. The side could only draw 1-1 with Westerlo at home and this ended Fink’s tenure in charge. The away side took the lead in the 13th minute through Griffin Yow, but shot themselves in the foot when the usually reliable Emin Bayram was sent off in the 71st minute. It took until the 94th minute for Genk to make their numerical advantage count, with former Celtic striker Hyun-Gyu Oh grabbing an equaliser. However, it was not enough to save Fink from the sack.

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