Mark van Bommel alone in the lead in Belgium with Royal Antwerp after third victory | Foreign football

It was 2-2 until twenty minutes before the end, but in the final phase Michel-Ange Balikwisha was accurate twice for the team of trainer Mark van Bommel. Radja Nainggolan had taken the 1-1 on behalf of Royal Antwerp FC in the 38th minute and shortly afterwards Michael Frey made the 2-1. Leuven equalized ten minutes after the break. At the score of 2-2, Van Bommel, who was brought to Belgium by technical director Marc Overmars, received a yellow card for comments on the lead.

Vincent Janssen came in fifteen minutes before the end for the Swiss striker Michael Frey, who is currently preferred in the competition. Former Ajax attacker Viktor Fischer came in in the 88th minute, Toby Alderweireld played the entire match again.

Royal Antwerp FC, which secured the arrival of Jurgen Ekkelenkamp this weekend, is the only team to have nine points after three rounds. Four teams follow with six points, including Anderlecht, which won 3-1 against Seraing earlier on Sunday. Racing Genk and OH Leuven are also on six points after two victories in three matches. Van Bommel also started well at VfL Wolfsburg last year with four victories in the Bundesliga, but after four consecutive defeats he was already sacked by the German club in October (after only thirteen duels). Before that, Van Bommel was in charge of ‘his’ PSV for 75 games, from July 2018 to December 2019. He also started in Eindhoven with seven victories, but the curtain finally fell after he won only two of his last fourteen matches.

It is the first time since 1987 that Antwerp starts the season with three wins at the highest level in Belgium. Royal Antwerp became champion of Belgium four times: in 1929, 1931, 1944 and 1957. The deeply fallen superpower returned in 2017 after thirteen years at the second level in the Jupiler Pro League, in which it has steadily climbed in recent years.

Thanks to the investments of the wealthy Flemish real estate magnate and club owner Paul Gheysens (68), after Radja Nainggolan last year, Vincent Janssen and Toby Alderweireld also came to Antwerp this summer, following Van Bommel and technical director Marc Overmars. For a long time, Antwerp also hoped to be able to secure the transfer-free Dries Mertens, but the all-time top scorer of Napoli chose Galatasaray last week.

Royal Antwerp also won 1-3 against Lillestrøm SK in Norway last Thursday, with which a place in the play-offs of the Conference League is up for grabs for its own audience next Thursday. In the previous round, Antwerp already dealt with FC Drita: 0-2 win in Kosovo after a goalless draw in their own stadium.