Two goals in four minutes gave Union victory over Standard

There is no corrosion to the union. Three days after the European victory over Frankfurt, the competition leaders also recorded a win over Standard. Two goals in four minutes before half-time – after goals from Nelson and Ainsa – were enough to get the three points. Despite Djenepo's equaliser, the leader had no further problems. The gap with Anderlecht is 8 points again, and the rest is no longer even in the picture.

Putting Club Brugge on 20+ points and taking full advantage of the points split between KAA Gent and Antwerp. Union knew, with strongmen Amora and Labussin on the bench, that they could do an excellent job against Standard in the title race.

Bodart soon knew what time it was. In the opening fifteen minutes, he narrowly avoided an own goal from Banzo, and the Standard goalkeeper also made a fine save after a Puertas strike.

Standard also came close to the opening goal. In half an hour, Burgess overtook Yeboah, but he forgot to take advantage of the great opportunity and hit the post. A record foul also occurred during the restart, as O'Neill aimed directly at Morris.

A costly double miss, because immediately afterwards the ball hit the penalty spot for Union. Referee LaForge allowed Van Heusden's tackle on Aiensa to pass, but awarded a penalty kick after looking at the pictures. Nelson converted it flawlessly: 1-0.

After just three minutes, Standard were already behind. After a clever pass from Teklab, Nelson had the ball in front of goal in short order and Ayensa in turn flicked the ball past Bodart very intelligently with one kick.

Standard responded immediately with another excellent chance from Leboah, but this time it was blocked by an excellent save from Morris. Things were not going well for Standard and this was underscored just before half-time when Van Heusden went down badly after an aerial duel. After a pause that lasted a few minutes, the defenders were transported on a stretcher.

With Djenepo and Kawabe, Leko brought two new forces into the fray in the second half and the move paid off immediately. After a corner kick from the Japanese, the ball reached Djenepo's feet around the 16th minute, and he scored his first goal for Standard through the thicket of legs past Morris.

The equalizer did not lose Al-Ittihad's balance and did not give record wings. Even the level saw a sharp decline and there were no more opportunities to be found. Standard stayed in the race, but never broke even.

Amora's contribution brought some excitement back into the home team's game, but Bodart kept Standard in front with some smart tackles. In vain, Union did not give up their victory, and together with Anderlecht can call themselves winners on the weekend.