The match did not have a study round, but it did have an opening phase full of opportunities. First for KVO, who decided on goalkeeper Gies. Then Denders striker Nsimba missed the opening goal, alone in front of goal. Dender threatened twice more in those first ten minutes.
Everything else suddenly stopped, until a minute before resting. M’Barki slalomed into the Ostend sixteen and got the ball via Nsimba to Marzo at the far post. He didn’t hesitate: 1-0 halfway.
Dender also had by far the better chances after half-time. But goalkeeper Bossin and the post kept the perhaps well-deserved double lead off the board. Until the 87th minute.
The flag was flagged for offside. Gies wanted to give the ball to his defender, but actually brought him into play. Luis Hartwig took advantage and scored the equalizer. Consternation at FC Dender. The ref had to
going to explain. Understandable because the ball should normally come into play where the striker was offside. But look, the goal went through. And it remained 1-1.