Union Saint-Gilloise (USG) defeated Antwerp 3-1 in the sixth round of the Champions Playoffs on Sunday evening, a few days after beating them 0-3 on Thursday night – notching up two vital wins in the title race.
The Brussels-based team started on the backfoot with Antwerp netting the opening goal just over a quarter of an hour into the game. Capitalising on a poor header from Noah Sadiki, Vincent Janssen caught Anthony Moris off-guard, giving Antwerp an early lead.
Despite heavy pressure from Antwerp, USG managed to respond after 30 minutes with a goal from Gustaf Nilsson. A clever move saw him dink the ball over Owen Wijndal before lobbing it over Senne Lammens to tie the score.
A mix-up in the Antwerp defence soon followed with Lazare Amani knocked over by Mandela Keita. In the resulting scramble, Kevin Mac Allister seized upon a loose ball to blast home a point-blank shot, putting the home side ahead.
Cameron Puertas extended the lead for USG just before the hour mark, driving home a pass from Mohamed Amoura for Union’s third goal of the match.
In the final seconds of the game, Puertas capped off a memorable victory with a magnificent curled shot from outside the box to secure a 4-1 victory.
In the other games, Anderlecht were held 1-1 by Cercle Brugge, while Club Brugge beat Genk 0-3.
This second consecutive win secures Union’s third-place position on 41 points, bringing them one point behind joint leaders Anderlecht and Club Brugge. Conversely, Antwerp remains bottom of the playoff table with 29 points.
