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Facing the Antwerpers, the Rouches are however weakened. Standard is indeed deprived of Ohio, Ngoy, Emond and especially Zinckernagel, after his two yellow cards synonymous with exclusion in Charleroi. Amallah was removed from the group.
Ronnie Deila decided to line up the young Canak and Fossey on the left side from the start. Cimirot is placed in central defense alongside Dussenne and Bokadi. Deila also chose to trust Dragus over Perica. On the Antwerp side, Radja Nainggolan started the game on the bench. This match should be special because it will oppose the Balikwisha brothers for the first time.
A crazy start to the encounter
There was no need to arrive late for this Pro League clash: Standard will absolutely set the stadium on fire in a matter of minutes.
After only a minute of play, Dussenne sends a marvelous long ball towards the head of Alzate. The Colombian deflects the leather towards Donnum on the left flank. The Norwegian plays Battle along the sideline and crosses towards William Balikisha. The young striker, completely forgotten in the small rectangle, opened the scoring (1-0, 2nd). Standard supporters are rejoicing, and this is just the beginning.
In the 4th minute of play, Raskin took advantage of Alderweireld’s approximate placement to launch Dragus on the left flank. The red striker wanders through the defense as if it were Devils, before sending a ball into the top corner of Butez (2-0, 4th). What a masterful solo from the Romanian!
5 minutes later, the festival continues. Canak and Alzate combine superbly around the rectangle. Dragus lets the ball pass with a nice fake to Canak, alone in front of goal, which once again crucifies Butez (3-0, 9th). What a combination from Liège, and three superb goals in just nine minutes.
The stadium is drunk with joy, the madness is total. The domination of the Liégeois is impressive. Antwerp is unrecognizable on its side with a desperate defense.
Serene mastery of the people of Liège
After these three goals in quick succession, the Antwerpers gradually regained their senses. However, the revolt does not seem present: the Antwerp midfielder is struggling to weigh in the game, and the attacks are meager.
The Rouches are playing serenely, making good defensive efforts and betting on offensive conversions. Deila’s men manage to recover a lot of balls and combine with accuracy. The supporters, drunk with joy following this start to the meeting, did not hesitate to raise their voices until the last minute of the first period.
