BEATEN BY AN OFFSIDE GOAL

LIERSE - BEERSCHOT  1 - 0

Not the happiest of nights for Beerschot at the Lisp Stadium on Saturday. Andreas Wieland's team suffered their third consecutive away defeat of 2023 and lose touch with leaders RWDM who now have a 5 points advantage in the table. An offside goal decided this provincial derby game, which was a bit harsh. And we claimed a penalty in the second half when Thibo Baeten was clearly fouled in the box. To no avail though.

On the other hand our Mannekes have to take some blame for this defeat too. They never got in their rhythm, lacked the power and imagination to translate their 70% ball possession in goals. In short; a disappointing performance.

Matthys and Weymans returned after suspension and  also Koshi and Quirynen got a spot in the starting line-up. After a promising start with chances for Sampers and Sebaoui the game went flat far too soon with neither team creating goal opportunities. Lierse threatened with shots from outside of the box, Beerschot came close with a good move from Sebaoui but were denied by an offside flag from the linesman.

Ironically Beerschot conceded on the brink of half time when Tabekou - who was clearly offside - tapped in a low pass. The linesman missed it and as there's no VAR in division 1B the goal stood. 

Beerschot showed more power and passion after the break but again didn't put the ball in the net. Thibo Baeten, who came on early in the second half, was on his way to the equaliser when he was brought down by Pupe. No penalty decided ref Boucaut. Bigh sighs and outrage went hand in hand in the Beerschot camp.

Neither team created any chances after that, the football was sloppy, the level of the game dropped dramatically. One-nil the final score. A painful defeat and yet more away disappointment and frustration for Beerschot.

ATTENDANCE: 4.000
REFEREE: Boucaut
GOALS: 42' Tabekou 1-0
LIERSE: De Smet, P. De Schrijver, Pupe, Van Acker, G. De Schryver (89' Libert), Schouterden (80' Laes), Cools, Gillekens, Tabekou (46' Vekemans), Sampers (74' Naessens), Poelmans  
BEERSCHOT: Lathouwers, Quirynen (56' Seydoux), Van den Bergh, Matthys, Konstantopoulos, Weymans (69' Rigo), Koshi (56' Alhassan), Sanusi, Sebaoui (56' Baeten), Verlinden, Thorisson (83' Koide)
YELLOW CARDS: Matthys 
RED CARDS: none

By Danny Geerts
Photo: Jan Mees