Union won 2-3 against KV Kortrijk on Saturday evening after an extremely entertaining game of football. Both teams seemed to be heading for a draw after goals from Selemani (2x), Nielsen and Kandouss, but Undav was more in the mood for a new three-pointer: the German shot the leather in the lock phenomenally in the square.
“Selemani is one of the most creative players in our competition”, Felice Mazzu warned his players before the start of Kortrijk-Union. But a warned man is clearly not worth two at Union: after just eight minutes, the Comorian international Kortrijk took the lead. Now, Selemani didn’t need much creativity for that goal: Kandouss just played the leather in his feet, Selemani only had to slide into the goal. 1-0 after an unlikely blunder.
But that lead was not entirely undeserved. The Guys immediately took the initiative against the league leader and were able to threaten twice before the goal: first Messaoudi shot past, then Moris had a great parade on a shot by Selemani.
Nielsen with a nice long shot
After the 1-0, Union showed up a little more eagerly, and that immediately paid off. First a free kick by Teuma via Ilic hit the bar, but a minute later Union was allowed to cheer. Lazare cleverly tapped a corner to Nielsen, who once again pulled out the sledgehammer and let the leather disappear into the far corner: 1-1. The Dane’s sixth goal this season: not bad for a defensive midfielder.
We also enjoyed ourselves in the remainder of the first half. Union took the upper hand, played football well, and created opportunities. First Teuma aimed wide and Lazare delayed shooting too long, and just before half an hour Ilic Lapoussin kept the 1-2 with a nice save. Also the last chance of the first half.
During halftime, Mazzu chose to drop Polish top talent Kacper Kozlowski into the squad, at the expense of an invisible Puertas. And in the second half, the team from Brussels was by far the better team, although the ball didn’t seem to want to go in at first. Bart Nieuwkoop got two excellent opportunities for the 1-2, but the Dutchman left them both incomprehensible. First he nodded at Ilic from close by, then he aimed even closer over the Kortrijk goal.
Photo: BELGA
Correct a mistake
But persistence wins, as the well-known proverb goes. And that was no different in Kortrijk: a free kick by Nielsen landed perfectly on the head of Kandouss, who headed the 1-2 into goal. Error corrected. Almost immediately afterwards Teuma could even decide the match, but Ilic boxed his shot into a corner.
Union could not enjoy that lead for long. Barely ten minutes after the 1-2, Selemani appeared diagonally in front of Moris after a clever combination, and he curled the leather somewhat nicely in the far bottom corner: 2-2 with fifteen minutes left.
Delicious bang
Union seemed to realize that time was running out and shifted up a gear. There were no chances at first, but Undav shot his team to victory at the end of the match. And how. The German turned away cleverly and scorched, Ilic saw the leather disappear into the square. What a fantastic goal from the top scorer.
The competition leader did not run into problems afterwards and thus records a vital three-pointer. Thanks to Mechelen’s loss of points, the team from Brussels was already certain of the Champions’ play-offs, but the three-pointer was crucial to forget about the loss of points against Eupen. The gap with first pursuer Club Brugge remains seven points.
Photo: BELGA
