Royal Antwerp insanely won the national title in Belgium on Sunday. Mark van Bommel’s men started the final day as the front runner, but were lagging behind for a long time. KRC Genk seemed to take off with the national title, until Toby Alderweireld smashed the ball deep into injury time: 2-2. Antwerp celebrates its fifth national title, after The GreatOld hadn’t become champion since 1957.
Union Sint-Gillis was virtually champion of Belgium for almost the entire second half, but threw it away against Club Brugge in the last minutes: 1-3. The winning goal was scored by Noa Lang, who provoked Union supporters by taking off his shirt and showing it to the disappointed fans.
The scenario beforehand
With three victories in a row, Antwerp had the best papers for the national title on the last day of play. The leader was just like Union Sint-Gillis on 46 points, but had the advantage with an equal number of points. This had to do with an ‘invisible’ half bonus point that Antwerp received in the points classification when entering the championship pool. Genk had one point less beforehand. Club Brugge had a lousy year, was already thirteen points behind Antwerp and had been eliminated for a long time in the title race.
KRC Genk – Royal Antwerp 2-2
At Antwerp, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, Gyrano Kerk and Vincent Janssen started in the base, while Calvin Stengs had to miss the final game due to a suspension. The tension was palpable in the Cegeka Arena and the field play of both teams was not of a great level. Antwerp claimed a penalty when Patrik Hrosovsky took a cross from Vincent Janssen with part of his arm. However, the VAR did not intervene. Genk took the lead just before the break. A low cross from Bilal El Khannous was well finished by the outlawed Tolu Arokodare: 1-0.
The second half had barely started when the news that Union had taken the lead against Club Brugge trickled through. Antwerp needed three points with that score and opened the attack. After an hour of play, the ball ended up in the ashes of the field with some coincidence in front of Kerk. The attacker accelerated and was very lucky that his effort rolled in through defender Carlos Cuesta’s half block: 1-1.
???????? ???????? ???????????????? ???? ???????????????????????? ?? Alderweireld makes Antwerp champion of Belgium ????#ZiggoSport #KRCGRAFC #ProLeague pic.twitter.com/uFCjzwFwY1
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) June 4, 2023
Union Sint-Gillis – Club Brugge 1-3
With Bart Nieuwkoop and Oussama El Azzouzi, two Dutch players were in the starting line-up at Union, while Lang started at Club. Union was already better in the first half, but the home supporters had to wait for a goal until the start of the second. A minute after the break, Simon Adingra placed the ball in control after a good combination with Victor Boniface: 1-0.
Club Brugge had little left to play for, but scored an all-determining goal one minute before the end. A cross from Lang was returned from the far post by Jack Hendry and finished by Shion Homma: 1-1. It got even worse for Union in minute 90+3. After a quick switch, Lang was able to slide in a low cross: 1-2. The attacker took off his shirt and provocatively showed it to the crowd. Club didn’t stop there and also made 1-3 in the tenth of stoppage time via Cisse Sandra, who was able to shoot in on a pass from Hans Vanaken.