What a night, what a climax! In the absolute dying seconds of the furthest possible away match, Beerschot still snatched the full three points away at Excelsior Virton on Saturday night. Following an early opener by Bas Van den Eynden and a second-half penalty equalizer, top scorer Arnold Vula blasted in the decisive 1–2 past goalkeeper De Schrevel in the 95th minute. A victory by the skin of our teeth, but the three points and a solid confidence boost heading into the international break are coming back with us to the Kiel!

Dream start through Van den Eynden Manager Mo Messoudi – celebrating his 50th match as head coach of the Purple-White – made just one change to his starting lineup: Milan Govaers came into the team for Glenn Claes. On the bench, we also saw the joyous return of Marco Weymans, who was finally back in the matchday squad after months of knee injury agony. It was also a milestone match for captain Lukas Van Eenoo (his 50th in the purple-white shirt).

Encouraged by 400 travelling supporters in a sold-out away section, our Mannekes came flying out of the starting blocks. In the 7th minute, it was paydirt straight away from the very first corner kick. Lukas Van Eenoo curled the ball to the near post, where Bas Van den Eynden made a clever run and neatly volleyed it past De Schrevel to make it 0–1.

This gave Beerschot the luxury of controlling the game from an armchair. Virton tried to strike back, but rarely came dangerously close to William Popp. Just before halftime, Beerschot seemed to have a claim for a penalty after a foul on Anas Haj Mohamed on the edge of the box, but following a video challenge requested by Messoudi, the ball remained outside the area. Half-time score: 0–1.

Setback after the break Our boys started the second half fiercely. Just after the restart, Haj Mohamed hit the post from a Van Eenoo assist. Beerschot continued to control the match and tried to find a way through via D'Margio Wright-Phillips among others, but the liberating second goal failed to materialize.

Against the run of play, Virton drew level in the 74th minute. Following a foul by Sem Audoor on Assengue, the referee pointed to the spot. Hachem gratefully accepted the gift and slotted home the 1–1. A few minutes later, William Popp kept Beerschot afloat with an excellent save on Wade following a clear-cut chance for the home side.

Vula strikes in the absolute dying seconds! Mo Messoudi threw all his attacking trumps onto the pitch in search of the victory. In the 82nd minute, Arnold Vula came agonizingly close: our top scorer controlled the ball brilliantly and unleashed a blistering shot against the crossbar.

With five minutes of stoppage time on the clock, our Mannekes kept fighting for every inch. And in the 95th minute, the well-deserved reward finally came. Arnold Vula brilliantly worked himself free in the penalty box with his right foot and ruthlessly struck with his left: 1–2!

Fantastic scenes of relief among the travelling fans and the entire Beerschot bench. The Purple-White thus snatch all three points away from Virton in the very last seconds and head into the international break with a wonderful feeling and a 27 out of 30 record. Next fixture: Sunday, November 22 at 4 PM in our own Olympic Stadium against Jong Genk. Royal Excelsior Virton    K Beerschot VA

 0-17' Bas Van den Eynden74' Abdelsamad Hachem1-1  1-294' Arnold Vula


Lineup1 - Celestin De Schrevel
3 - Allan Tchaptchet
4 - Ehsan Kari
6 - Maxime Guillaume
8 - Gaëtab Arib
10 - Paul Wade
11 - Abdelsamad Hachem
13 - Aliou Dembele
19 - Ihab Goudani
21 - Antoine Valerio
22 - Steeven Assengue


LineupWilliam Popp - 13
Milan Govaers - 3
Brian Plat - 4
Sem Audoor - 5
Bas Van den Eynden - 6
Lukas Van Eenoo - 8
Arnold Vula - 15
Anas Haj Mohamed - 21
D'Margio WrightPhillips - 32
Dennis Gyamfi - 76
Genki Haraguchi - 78


Substitutes9 - Marks Inchaud
14 - Luca Maiorano
16 - Nicolas Closset
17 - Tyron Tormin
20 - Lorenzo De Geyndt
23 - Adama Diop
26 - Valentin Sanson
29 - Nathan Fernandes
30 - Aladin Bizimana


SubstitutesXavier Gies - 1
Toshio Lake - 7
Glenn Claes - 10
Jordan Bustin - 19
Mats Rits - 20
Edisson Jordanov - 24
Marco Weymans - 28
Takatora Einaga - 41
Ensar Brahic - 45


Cards Antoine Valerio (5')


Cards Sem Audoor (70')
Arnold Vula (95')

Substitutions76' - Steeven Assengue Tyron Tormin
84' - Antoine Valerio Valentin Sanson
90' - Ihab Goudani Lorenzo De Geyndt
90' - Paul Wade Nathan Fernandes
Substitutions74' - Anas Haj Mohamed Toshio Lake
84' - Lukas Van Eenoo Glenn Claes
90' - D'Margio WrightPhillips Ensar Brahic
90' - Milan Govaers Edisson Jordanov
SubjectsBas Van den Eynden Arnold Vula Excelsior Virton