KV Mechelen and Charleroi divided the points fairly: 2-2. The home team seemed on their way to a smooth victory, but Charleroi made up for the 2-0 deficit after the break. With a point, both teams seem to have to drop out for Play-off I.
KV Mechelen – Charleroi in a nutshell:
- Key moment: Twenty minutes before the end, the VAR referee calls Jan Boterberg to the monitor. He can only see hands from Swers in the sixteen and so the ball goes on the spot. Coucke takes Bayo’s penalty, but left too soon. On the second attempt, Bayo brings Charleroi alongside.
- Man of the match: Just like last week, his goal ultimately does not result in a profit for KV Mechelen, but Hugo Cuypers is working on an impressive series. The attacker has scored for the 6th time in the last 7 games today. He now has a total of 12 goals this season.
- Remarkable: For KV Mechelen it is a painful déjà vu. In the previous home game against Cercle Brugge, despite a 2-0 lead, it finally had to make peace with a draw. Same story last week visiting STVV. Even then, it gave up a lead and was stuck on a division of points.
- Statistics: For the fourth season in a row, KV Mechelen will draw against Charleroi at home. 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 and now 2-2. It has been since December 20, 2016 that KVM could once again triumph at home against Charleroi. Mats Rits then scored the only goal.
Deadly efficient KV Mechelen strikes in opening quarter
Nice start for KV Mechelen, with the first attack it was immediately a prize. Storm disbanded his devils on the left flank and luckily got the ball to the detached Hairemans. He did not miss the chance and gave the home team the lead in the 5th minute.
KV Mechelen remained deadly efficient, because the second full-fledged attack also resulted in a goal barely 8 minutes later. Again along the left, again Storm was at the base. He gave the ball well to Bijker and his low cross was slid into the goal at the near post by Cuypers. 2-0 after less than fifteen minutes.
A strong damper for Charleroi, which subsequently lagged behind. It was only shortly before halftime that the visitors came close to scoring the goal. Coucke needed a fine save on a header by Heymans.
Combatant Charleroi still catches up 2-0 behind
“We really have to give it some gas, because we’ve given it away more than once this season.” These turned out to be prophetic words from Lucas Bijker after the first half, because less than 5 minutes after the break Charleroi came back into the game. After a short corner kick, Zorgane found Andreou’s head and his header from close range.
The game picture changed, with Charleroi emphatically looking for the equalizer. Twenty minutes before the end, it came after the intervention of the VAR. Hands by Swers resulted in a penalty and Bayo converted it in two times. From 2-0 to 2-2, everything suddenly had to be redone for KV Mechelen.
So there was enough tension in the final phase, but there were no more great opportunities. Schoofs put some home supporters on the wrong track when his free kick shook the side net, but it remained 2-2.
Hands by Swers gives Charleroi a penalty:
Vrancken: “No eagle eye at second penalty”
- Wouter Vrancken (coach KV Mechelen): “I’m standing here with a smile, because we played well. We dominated the first half, gave a master class. In the second half, we lost control a bit in a certain period. It’s a shame that we are missing points here Gaëtan (Coucke, ed.) took the penalty. I have not yet seen a close-up of the images, but to be so sure as a linesman there that he was gone too early, then you have a “Eagle eye needed. That eagle eye was not there when Ilaimaharitra was already a meter into the box on the second penalty. That’s just a shame. Then we should have done it a bit more clinically in the last meters to still pull it to us.”
- Edward Still (trainer Charleroi): “Our second half was very good, the pressure we put on the Mechelen defense then was great. That was also the plan in the first half, but then we played unrecognizable. There was no intensity in our game then, that was a big disappointment. It was not a question of tactics, but a lack of energy when we were not in possession of the ball. It is also a disappointment that we scored twice here and still did not win.”
