HERVE MATTHYS SCORES, MIKE VANHAMEL SAVES

BEERSCHOT - BEVEREN  1 - 0

Great start for Beerschot who recorded their first victory on the first day of the new season. And it was richly deserved too as our Mannekes produced some good football in the first hour, scored after fifteen minutes and didn't crumble in the last part of the game when Beveren put up the prressure after Jan Van den Bergh was sent off. Goalkeeper Mike Vanhamel sealed the win with two superb saves.

"I would like to see an enthusiastic team that shows commitment and plays attacking football with a high intensity", Andreas Wieland had said in the build up to the new season. And that's exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon. Full credit to our new coach and his young team. Beerschot took control from the very first minute, created a couple of good scoring opportunities and were eventually rewarded when Herve Matthys cleverly lobbed goalkeeper Brondeel for the opening goal. 

With that 1-0 score on the board Beerschot continued the good work with shots from Baeten, Koshi and Sebaoui... but also Beveren twice threatened on the break through Maderner. His shots went wide.

Early in the second half Beerschot produced a copy book combination, set up by Sebaoui and Vaca. Baeten saw his shot saved by the visiting goalkeeper and Seydoux headed the rebound over the top. Also Jan Van den Bergh came close to Beerschot's second goal, with the ball saved on (or was it behind?) the goal line. No VAR in Division 1B however to clear the matter.

On the hour Jan Van den Bergh was sent off for fouling Maderner and with ten against eleven Beerschot were put under pressure by Beveren who played "all or nothing" in the remaining thirty minutes. Ribeiro came close but Vanhamel saved miraculously when he palmed away his shot from under the crossbar. The Beerschot defense stood firm and so preserved the small margin and the first threepointer of the season. 

ATTENDANCE: 0
REFEREE: Denil
GOALS: 17' Matthys 1-0
BEERSCHOT: Vanhamel, Seydoux, Van den Bergh, Meisl, Matthys, Koshi (46' Rigo), Nzita (85' La Morte), Sanusi, Sebaoui (75' Verlinden), Vaca (75' Weymans), Baeten (88' Frans)
BEVEREN: Brondeel, Mertens, Kablan (46' Reyners), Hoggas (75' Ismaheel), Wuytens, Maderner, Edmundsson (83' Ndour), Ribeiro, Corryn, Verstraete, Bateau (75' Tshimanga)
YELLOW VARDS: Mertens, Koshi, Sanusi, Seydoux, Edmundsson, Wuytens, Weymans, Corryn, La Morte
RED CARDS: 61' Van den Bergh, 90+2' Mertens (2x yellow)

Tekst: Danny Geerts
Foto: Jan Mees