Union Saint-Gilloise defeat ten-man Antwerp 2-0 to join Gent at top of league

First half stalemate at the Bosuil

Union Saint-Gilloise entered Sunday's matchday seven fixture at the Bosuil three days after securing a win against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League. The visiting team generated the first scoring chance of the afternoon in the tenth minute of play. Defender Louis Patris sent a cross toward Mateo Biondic, who redirected the ball to an unmarked Relebohile Mofokeng in the penalty area, though Mofokeng lifted his attempt over the crossbar. Antwerp answered five minutes later through Christopher Scott, whose effort was stopped by goalkeeper Hervé Koffi in the 15th minute. Scott created another opening in the 27th minute, but the Brussels defense blocked his volley. Antwerp goalkeeper Taishi Brandon Nozawa preserved the 0-0 scoreline in the 36th minute by making a close-range save against Besfort Zeneli at the edge of the six-yard box.

Second half breakthrough and dismissal

David Hubert's team broke the deadlock in the 51st minute shortly after the interval. Mofokeng delivered a cross into the penalty area, where German forward Mateo Biondic controlled the ball between two defenders and struck a low volley past Nozawa while off-balance. Antwerp attempted to respond two minutes later through Modibo Fofana in the 53rd minute, but the visitors continued to test the home defense. Alvaro Cortes preserved Antwerp's deficit at one in the 59th minute by clearing another Biondic strike off the goal line, and Nozawa pushed away an Ondrej Kricfalusi free kick in the 68th minute. The contest shifted further in the 70th minute when Antwerp midfielder Bahmed Deuff committed an uncontrolled tackle, earning his second yellow card in three minutes and receiving a red card.

Sealing victory and league standings

Operating with an extra player, Union Saint-Gilloise pressed to extend their advantage in the closing 20 minutes. Nozawa kept Antwerp in the match temporarily by winning a one-on-one duel with Kevin Rodríguez in the 73rd minute. Five minutes later, in the 78th minute, Denzel De Roeve struck a low effort that passed through Nozawa's legs to establish a 2-0 lead for the Brussels side. Nozawa denied Rodríguez once more in the third minute of stoppage time (90+3') to prevent a third goal. The win served as Union Saint-Gilloise's fifth consecutive league victory, maintaining their unbeaten start to the domestic campaign under Hubert.

Table positions after matchday seven

The result moved Union Saint-Gilloise to 19 points from seven league matches, pulling them level with Gent at the summit of the Jupiler Pro League. Union Saint-Gilloise hold the tiebreaker for first place via a goal difference of plus-18, compared to Gent's plus-9 goal differential. For Antwerp, the defeat was their fourth consecutive loss in the league competition, leaving them in 13th place with 7 points from seven matches. The home side was unable to recover after falling behind and losing Deuff to the dismissal, continuing a difficult run of domestic results.