Officially called injury time, in the Fiery City it was mainly extra VAR time that was added. Our struggling Kemphans still managed to turn a hopeless 2-0 deficit into a deserved draw, which in itself is no mean feat in a buzzing Liège stadium.

KVC Westerlo

After the first two games in the Europe Play Offs – and ditto defeats – we already heard the word tired in the corridors.  Those who witnessed in the stadium or followed the match on TV clearly saw that this term was not mentioned during the entire game.  Fans of statistics could follow through various channels, that this match was evenly matched, and that our Kemphians clearly had an advantage in the “expected goals”, despite a double deficit. This draw therefore felt like a victory. The coach’s reward was therefore along those lines. An extra day off towards the next encounter, against the same opponent, which was received with great enthusiasm by the players’ group.

The Rouches are a club we like better at home, rather than on away. The last defeat against the red-whites dates back 13 years, and we did find some know-it-alls around that:

Did you know?

• So in the 10/11 season, Standard managed to win at Kuipje for the last time.
• Sinan Bolat was then just in goal at Standard
• Substitute Paulo Henrique then scored the Westel goal, which was also his first in the Kemphanen’s service, and he would go on to put 21 more against the net
• Later that season, both teams also played the final of the Belgian Cup, when Standard won 2-1 at the King Baudouin Stadium.

Standard Liege

Dejection was evident in the Standard camp. Coach Ronny Deila had also proclaimed ahead of the previous game that they were going for a 6/6 against Westerlo, only to get the coveted ticket on the last matchday of these Europe Plays Offs in a direct game against Gent. 

At the press conference, the Norwegian coach took all the blame. The reason he gave was that because of the substitutions he had made and the system he had changed, he had lost grip on match.

Did-you-know?

• Ronny Deila managed to win six trophies in his coaching career and also became coach of the season in Norway once.
• This included celebrating the national title with Scotland’s Celtic (2015 and 2016) and Norway’s Stromsgodset (2013), with whom he also managed to capture the National Cup in 2010. He also managed to win awards with Celtic (League Cup in 2015) and New York City (MLS Cup in 2021).
• Standard is the team that has been playing in our highest league for the longest and uninterrupted time. Since 1921(!), they have never dropped to a lower division.
• They had to play test matches in both 2005 (against Genk) and 2009 (against Anderlecht) to win the national title, and that they lost both times.

Bert Put

Three games the Limburger has already been allowed to whistle for us this season, three games that have also stuck with us.

1.         KV Mechelen – KVC Westerlo 5-4

2.         Club Brugge – KVC Westerlo 0-2

3.         KVC Westerlo – KRC Genk 0-1

It will be his third game all-time at the Kuipje. He hosted for the first time in March 2019, this also involved a match in the Europe Play Offs. That Sunday, Beerschot visited and the match ended in a 1-1 score.

Text and statistics: Peter Boons