Not only corona, but now also the fog has messed up the schedule in the Jupiler Pro League. After the first half, referee De Cremer decided that it was no longer possible to continue. The second half will be played on Tuesday evening.
A first for Undav and Vanzeir, fog throws a spanner in the works
A thick fog hung over the field in Le Pairay, anything but ideal conditions for playing football. At Union they had little trouble with that. After just 5 minutes, Teuma took advantage of Seraing’s fumbling at the back and Undav was able to open the score early on his pass.
Excellent start for the league leader, but a few minutes after the early goal, an early blow followed. After an excellent pass from Maziz, Bager defeated the broken through Mikautadze. Ref De Cremer was unrelenting: red for Bager.
But even with a man more a very weak Seraing could not make a fist. On the contrary, 20 minutes after the 0-1, the home team conceded a second goal. Once again clumsy loss of the ball was the basis and this time it was Vanzeir who gave Galjé the check. Undav and Vanzeir could both score for the first time in the same match at the highest level.
The fog continued to play a leading role and just before the start of the second half, ref De Cremer decided that visibility was too limited. A half-hour delay brought no solace and so the match was definitively stopped. The second half will be played on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Vanzeir: “There was no problem for me”
Mixed feelings at Union. A new three-pointer seemed within reach, until the fog ruined the party. For Dante Vanzeir, the match should not have been abandoned. “When you’re in the middle of the field, you see both goals. There was no problem for me to continue,” said the goalscorer.
“We wanted to play football, but Seraing preferred to stop the game. Which is also understandable. The referee has made the decision and we will have to come back this week to play another 45 minutes. It is now, we will have to turn the switch.”
“We had the match under control, for us it was ideal to finish the match. Now it could be a completely different match. We have to stay focused and play that match mature.”
“We took the plunge at the right times tonight. Seraing played rather nonchalantly, especially when we fell with 10. They couldn’t develop a pace and pressure us. We scored that second goal at the right time and were able to control the match from there.”
Bormans: “Understand the decision”
Philippe Bormans, CEO of Union, understood the decision of referee Wesli De Cremer. “Obviously it’s a difficult decision. On the one hand, you have the rules. That determines that play should be played if you can see both goals from the center line. But I do understand the decision.”
“It’s a shame for us that we have to come back because it disrupts our program. I understand that will be quite soon. Given the Covid cases, it might be best that we do that as soon as possible, because that could also have an impact on the teams on the match sheet that need to be kept. It’s a weird season and then this comes on top of it. It makes it all a bit more exciting, but it is now.”
Galjé: “I couldn’t see my attackers”
Timothy Galjé was allowed to score for the first time tonight at Seraing, but the goalkeeper did not enjoy his debut. “I had envisioned a different debut. As a young player you hope for a fantastic first game and then the match is stopped after 45 minutes. But I still enjoyed the minutes I played.”
Galjé thought it was the right decision to stop the match. “At the beginning of the game I already had difficulties seeing the other goalkeeper. Moris was out of sight for me and I couldn’t see my attackers either. So it was gambling and adjusting my position to what I felt.”
“I think we played with the handbrake a bit. When Union had 10, we should have put a little higher pressure. We tried to bring good football. It’s a shame we couldn’t continue that in the second half to a goal or maybe two.”
