Antwerp won 4-2 against Union Saint-Gilloise on Wednesday night at Bosuilstadion on the 5th match day of D1A – the Belgian First Division.
Having won all six of their first matches, Royal Antwerp FC – nicknamed the Great Old – occupy first place in the championship with 18 points, while Union Saint-Gilloise find themselves in 5th place with 10 points.
Antwerp opened the scoring in the 8th minute with an own goal from Union's Bart Nieuwkoop after fellow defender Christian Burgess lost possession.
Shortly after, Vincent Janssen managed to find the Union net again in the 15th minute for 2-0.
Union's Siebe Van Der Heyden managed to peg a goal back for the visitors with a header a few minutes later (23rd), but any hope of a comeback would be short-lived.
In the 36th minute, Jean Thierry Lazare Amani received a yellow card which turned into red after a VAR check, leaving Union down to 10 men.
Before half-time, a strong attacking phase from Antwerp was rewarded with another goal – a header from defender Samuel Vines which hit the back of the net for Antwerp's third of the night.
In added time in the first half, Union's collapse became unsurmountable as Vincent Janssen brought the score to 4-1 after a penalty was awarded following a foul by Union's Vanzeir on Antwerp's Bataille.
Antwerp's Vincent Janssen pictured during a soccer match between Royal Antwerp FC RAFC and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise RUSG, Wednesday 31 August 2022 in Antwerp. Credit: Belga / Tom Goyvaerts
In the second half, many changes were made.
Simon Adingra came on for the Unionistes on 46 minutes, while it was Anthony Valencia and Radja Nainggolan who came on the Antwerp side (62nd).
For the end of the second period, Karel Geraerts tried to change the game and brought on Jose Rodriguez, Guillaume Francois and Dennis Eckert Ayensa.
These changes paid off with a goal from Dennis Eckert Ayensa (71).
In the 86th, Union suffered another set back when Oussama El Azzouzi was given a red card for a foul on Valencia who was clean through on goal – with Union finishing the match with 9 men.
