Advantage Union St Gilloise after victory over Club Brugge

Advantage Union St Gilloise after victory over Club Brugge

Union St Gilloise appear to have taken a decisive step in their bid to win back to back Belgian Pro League titles. The side won 2-1 against Club Brugge in a brutal encounter in Brussels, with January signings Mateo Biondic and Besfort Zeneli helping the side come back from 1-0 down. It looked like Kevin Rodriguez had given Union St Gilloise the lead, only for VAR to rule it out for offside. Almost immediately, Brandon Mechele gave Club Brugge the lead from a corner. Kjell Scherpen did not cover himself in glory with how he tried to keep the ball out, but the 26-year-old goalkeeper more than made up for it with an incredible save late on to deny Aleksandar Stankovic from a corner.

It was fitting that once again, Union St Gilloise’s ability to recruit talent helped them get over the line agaist Club Brugge. Biondic signed from the German regional leagues and scored his second goal for the side. It was a well taken finish from the striker. Zeneli was hardly a surprising signing from Elfsborg, but his finish oozed with class and was worthy of winning any game.

In the race for the title, Union St Gilloise are now fully in control. They still have to travel to Brugge for the reverse fixture, but currently have a four point lead over their title rivals. Given the disparity between both Union St Gilloise and Club Brugge compared to the rest of the sides in the play-offs, this game felt like Club’s best chance to deny Union St Gilloise another title. Both sides should have enough to win their remaining games against the other teams in the play-offs, although Club will now be praying that someone else can do them a favour ahead of the return fixture.