Jupiler Pro League
Union was unable to flush the cup defeat against Club Brugge with a victory against Westerlo. Loïc Lapoussin turned an early deficit with two goals into a 2-1 lead, but in the absolute end Madsen scored the equalizer from the spot (2-2).
After the defeat against Club Brugge last Wednesday, Union immediately wanted to regain their footing in the competition. With the arrival of Westerlo, they were presented with a feasible opponent, although De Kemphanen have been doing a lot better since the arrival of coach Rik De Mil.
Westerlo certainly did not come to the Dudenpark to dig in, because we got to see an overall quite pleasant match. Van den Keybus’ early goal certainly played a role in this: the 22-year-old Belgian scored after just six minutes following a huge blunder by Ross Sykes. Was another defeat immediately in the making?
No, as it turns out, because the visitors could not enjoy that lead for long. On the fifteen minute mark, Lapoussin and Rasmussen combined with a nice one-two through the visiting defense, and Lapoussin finished simply face to face with Bolat. Everything had to be redone.
Even after the equalizer, the match was evenly matched with chances on both sides. Amoura explicitly looked for a goal at Union, but that too often resulted in wrong choices. Although the Algerian was almost right: just before half time he surprisingly tried with his right, Bolat saw the leather fall on the crossbar.
Westerlo also occasionally put its nose into the window, but the visitors did not really get any further than a blocked shot from Bos.
Lapoussin again
In the second half, Union took control a little more firmly. Amoura was soon close to scoring again when Bolat misjudged a cross, but the post was still in the way. Bad luck again for Amoura.
They certainly didn’t have to worry about it for long at Union. When Nilsson headed a good cross back to Lapoussin – albeit with luck – the 2-1 was a fact. The Malagasy tackled Bolat a second time, giving Union the lead.
Penalty
Westerlo could offer very little in return in the second half: despite the hopeful first half, things looked worse in the second half. Westerlo did not create any more chances for a long time and seemed to be heading for defeat, but in the absolute final it still got the chance to equalize when it was awarded a light penalty after an error by Mac Allister. A bolt from the blue for Union. Madsen got behind the ball and shot the penalty perfectly: Moris did go to the right corner, but the penalty was kicked too well. Nilsson still had the chance to give Union the three points in the final minute, but he failed face to face with Bolat. 2-2, which means Union loses two expensive points. The lead over Anderlecht is still 11 points, but Anderlecht will play later this weekend.
