ANTWERP - BEERSCHOT 2 - 1
What a frustrating afternoon for Beerschot at the Bosuil Stadium where they were denied a result by referee Verboomen and his staff in the VAR room. Coach Greg Vanderidt's team deserved at least a point from this game and quite rightly pointed the finger at the ref for not giving a penalty after a clear foul on Sebaoui, disallowing a brilliant Shankland goal for a foul committed at the other end of the pitch half a minute earlier, sending off De Smet and giving Antwerp the benefit of the doubt at every fifty-fifty situation. It was disgusting, diabolical and shameful.
All credits go to Beerschot who performed really well, produced the better football in the first half, created a handful of good scoring opportunities from which they unfortunately scored just once when Joren Dom hit home after he was set up by Shankland and Avenatti. The 1-0 lead at half time was richly deserved and should have been bigger but for ref Verboomen waving away Beerschot's claim for a penalty and a hard working Shankland missing a peach of a chance.
After the break Antwerp put on the pressure but Beerschot's defense stood firm until ref Verboomen started his 'one man show' in which VAR gladly contributed. Michael Frey scored an equaliser just out of the blue but Beerschot didn't crumble at all. An ever present Sebaoui took the game back to the home team with an impressive run on the left flank allowing Shankland to score a second Beerschot goal... that was eventueally disallowed for a foul on Benson half a minute earlier at the other end of the pitch. A couple of minutes later De Smet was sent off with a second yellow card for a debatable foul. To make matters worse Antwerp clinched victory seven minutes from the end with a second goal from their top scorer Michael Frey. Totally undeserved.
ATTENDANCE: 16.000
REFEREE: Verboomen
GOALS: 42' Dom 0-1, 62' Frey 1-1, 83' Frey 2-1
ANTWERP: Butez, De Laet (33' Buta), Seck, Yusuf (46' Benson), Dessoleil, Bataille, Nainggolan, Verstraete, Balikwisha, Miyoshi (57' Samatta), Frey
BEERSCHOT: Biebauw, Dom, Radic (87' Holzhauser), Lemos, Van den Bergh, De Smet, Pietermaat (87' Coulibaly), Sanusi, Avenatti, Sebaoui (90' Vaca), Shankland (77' Halaimia)
YELLOW CARDS: De Smet, Shankland, Buta, Seck, Sanusi, Dom, Holzhauser, Van den Bergh
RED CARDS: 73' De Smet (2x geel)
By Danny Geerts
Photo: Jan Mees
