Union failed to take the lead in Mechelen. Vanzier gave the doctoral student the lead after 11 seconds, but an enthusiastic local team turned the tables completely: Cowers, Shevid and Storm made it 3-1. KVM doubles its score and advances in the rankings.
KV Mechelen – Union in a nutshell:
- key moment: The fact that KV Mechelen won today is largely due to this early tie. If that didn’t work out before the break, the home team would have had a very difficult time.
- man of the match: Hugo Cuypers was the author of that tie. Fifteen minutes before the end, he let the cross intentionally slip through his legs, giving Storm plenty of time in the back to kick 3-1.
- Special: Dante Vanzier is not ready for the test when it comes to fast goals. In January, he already scored past Denzi, then was another five seconds faster.
Vanzer opened the score after just 13 seconds
Union went to KV Mechelen with confidence. With a 9 out of 12, the PhD candidate ran smoothly and a win at Mechelen would have led to the leading position. Then the host team lost three times in a row and was eager to put an end to this negative run.
No matter how good McLean’s intentions were, the game plan was already in the trash ten seconds later. Michelin’s first long ball was smoothly intercepted and then with two flicks Vanzer passed goalkeeper Koke to hit the ball at lightning speed 0-1 into the empty net.
KV Mechelen started the game with a delay, but fifteen minutes ago the unbalanced situation was already corrected. Walsh took advantage of Union’s defensive indecision, and immediately returned the ball to Quirres, who saw the equaliser bounce through Morris’ fingertips and into the post.
A promising start was followed by a lot of struggle, which meant that the yellow-booked Souza had to be shielded from himself half an hour before and was moved to the side. In the end, Union came close to a second goal when Bear just passed the ball into Vanzer’s foot at 16, but decided not to cancel the second gift.
KV Mechelen emerges as the winner of a fierce battle
After that fun first half, it’s time to look forward to the second half. Soon it promised a lot of good, because less than five minutes later Vanzer had already hit the crossbar with a first chance. Five more minutes later, Schoofs blindly crossed the other side at Shved’s completely detached feet, which didn’t give Morris a chance with a narrow cross-shot: 2-1.
As if the pace wasn’t fast enough, Shved started looking for his second target within several minutes not long after that. Only his zigzagging display through Brussels’ defense ended on the wrong side of the job. Goalkeepers were also put to work, but Coucke did an impressive double shock and Morris appeared to have an extendable arm.
Neither team was able to keep up with such intense pace, so KV Mechelen was able to slowly back away and pick his moments on the counterattack. Fifteen minutes before the end, that plan was executed perfectly when Cuypers cleverly let a cross pass into Storm, who put the final score 3-1 on the board.
This is a satisfactory victory for KV, who lost three times in a row after winning the opening match day. After 10 seconds Union seemed to be on its way to the lead, but in the end they still stood in 4th albeit well.
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