KAA Gent in good condition. She produced a dominating display at Charleroi. Tisodale and de Sarthe offered a reassuring reward. Substitute Orbán eventually scored, as did Ilaimaharitra. The visitors remain top of the table, and Charleroi remains poised on the edge of the relegation zone.
Charleroi – KAA Gent in brief:
Key moment: Ghent were superior in the first half, but forgot to finish the match completely. De Sart finally did just that on the hour mark, and from the penalty spot put the score 0-2 on the board. The match was played.
Man of the match: Tariq Tisodale raced past defenders, as he did on his best days, and also scored the opening goal. He proved once again – especially before half-time – why they call him the ‘Tita Wizard’.
distinct: For the first time since August 20, Gift Orban was able to score another goal in our competition. Has the train finally left again?
Tisodali shows no mercy
Every top club knows that a move to the Black Country can be a treacherous journey. Gent appeared to have been warned at kick-off, but were not fully awake in the opening minutes.
A long shot from Zurjan about five minutes later seemed to be a red flag. The Buffaloes changed gears and have been revving the engine ever since.
First, Tarek Tissodale and Hugo Kuipers had their efforts blocked by some excellent reactions from Hervé Koffi, but 20 minutes later they found the net.
It was Tisodale who mercilessly punished poor play by the Charleroi defence. 1-0 and a deserved lead for Gent, who will have plenty of chances to score a second goal in the remainder of the first half.
But the score 2-0 will not fall before the end of the first half. A small blemish in the perfect half of the very dominant city of Ghent.
Orbán might cheer (but he doesn’t)
Mazo hoped that his forces would be able to respond immediately after the break, but he quickly saw that nothing would be achieved. Charleroi played very little tonight, and the visitors maintained complete control.
They were ultimately rewarded for it every hour. Kuipers overtook Mark, who wanted to intervene but pushed the Ghent striker onto the turf. The ensuing penalty kick was easy for Julien De Sart.
After a 0-2 draw, everyone at the Stade du Pays de Charleroi knew the game was over. The final half-hour looked like a waste of time, until Gift Emmanuel Orbán scored another goal before the final whistle.
The Nigerian didn’t celebrate, but he will be relieved to have finally found his way to the goal. In the end, Marco Ilimaharitra did just that.
It was painful for Roofe, who saw his clean sheet go up in smoke, but a mere footnote in the mature and dominant performance of Hein Vanhisbrouck’s troops.
Felice Mazo (Charleroi): “I have mixed feelings. The opponent was better, but we gave away a goal due to a mistake. We resume the game with good intentions and have chances, but we are punished for turnovers. We have to be more focused in those situations. “Sometimes we have to play more courageously, instead of choosing certainty. We invited Gent to exert a lot of pressure. In our situation, every point is important now.”
Hein Vanhaysbrouck (KAA Ghent): “We were in complete control the whole match. We could have done more on the counter-attack, but I have to be satisfied. We signed a 1-3 win in advance. Everyone did what they had to do. The players repeated their message.” “Performance from against Standard. But now there are two more big players coming through with Anderlecht and Union.”
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