The first goal for Antwerp came early tonight, after eight minutes to see exactly. After a foul on striker Vincent Janssen, the referee allowed the game to continue and Toby Alderweireld took full advantage of that. With a splitting pass through the axis of the field, he gave Pieter Gerkens a nice chance and the 27-year-old midfielder from Bilzen finished it off coolly. With an odds ratio of 11-4, Royal Antwerp might have had even more, but Van Bommel’s team has so far excelled mainly in reliability and giving away few opportunities. After eleven games, the goal difference is 24-8.
Calvin Stengs played the entire match at Antwerp. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was replaced after 63 minutes by Radja Nainggolan. Vincent Janssen was replaced in the 90th minute by Michael Frey, the Swiss striker who has returned to fitness after an ankle injury that kept him sidelined for several weeks. Frey fired another shot at Daniel Schmidt’s goal in the 92nd minute, after which Christopher Scott scored the 2-0 in the rebound.