Anderlecht back in the running

In Play-off I it was another disappointing result from Standard de Liège. The Liège team lost the Walloon derby 1-0 away against a Sporting Charleroi side that has surprised many in recent weeks.

Charleroi’s victory came in front of a sell-out crowd in the Stade du Pays du Charleroi, the stadium where England played Germany in the 2000 European Championships.

Standard piled on the pressure early on, but were unable to pull ahead. A mistake by the Standard keeper Thuram allowed Tainmont (photo) to put Charleroi one up on 38 minutes.

Charleroi had a number of good chances to widen the score early in the second half, but an alert Thuram was on hand to deny the Zebras.

At the other end Ezekiel had two great chances for Standard, but it was not to be and the match ended 1-0 in Charleroi’s favour.

The result sees standard slip back to 5th place in the Play-off I table with 30 points. Sporting Charleroi are 4th with 32 points.

In what was their best performance in the play-offs so far, Sporting Anderlecht enjoyed an comfortable 5-1 home win against KV Kortrijk. Hero of the hour was Olivier Deschacht (photo) who put in a sterling performance, scoring two goals against the team that is managed by his good friend Yves Vanderhaeghe.

From the outset it was clear that it wasn’t going to be and easy match for KV Kortrijk. Anderlecht piled on the pressure and it was only going to be a matter of time before the home side scored.

And score they did with two goals from Olivier Deschacht on 17 and 24 minutes. A blunder by the Anderlecht keeper Silvio Proto allowed Chevalier to pull one back for Kortrijk on 34 minutes.

However, the visitors’ hope turned to despair when Thielemans scored a great goal three minutes from half time. It was one way traffic in the second half with a dominant Anderlecht scoring another two goals through Mitrovic (51 minutes) and Najar (62 minutes).

The result sees Sporting Anderlecht retain 3rd place with 35 points. KV Kortrijk is 6th with 30 points.

In Play-off II, two penalties converted by Maric were enough to give Sporting Lokeren a 2-1 home win against Mouscron-Péruwelz. Rodelin scored Mouscron’s goal in the first half.

With two games still to play Lokeren leads Play-off II, Group B with 10 points from 4 games. Mouscron-Péruwelz is 2nd with 6 points. In Saturday evening’s other Group B match KV Oostende enjoyed a 2-1 win away at Westerlo.

KVO took the lead in the first half through Musona, only for Westerlo to equalise through Diagne early in the second half.

KV Oostende’s winning goal came from Ruiz in the second minute of injury time. KV Oostende is third in the Play-off II Group B table with 6 points from 4 games. Westerlo is 4th with just 1 point.

In Group A Zulte Waregem enjoyed a 2-0 win away at Waasland Beveren. Zulte Waregem’s goals came from Kaya on 35 minutes and Trajkovski a minute from time. The result sees Zulte Waregem in 3rd place with 4 points from 4 games. Waasland-Beveren is 4th with 1 point.