Ahead of the cup final, Besnik Hasi announced he wanted to give other players a chance at Antwerp FC. The coach made no less than nine changes compared to the game in Ghent. After an enjoyable first half with few chances, the match was decided by two young players from Sporting. RSCA takes the full 9 out of 9 and heads into Sunday’s match with a good feeling.
On a scorching hot day at the Bosuil, the visitors, featuring many new faces in the starting eleven, began the match with great intensity. A sharp cross from Thomas Foket was deflected into a corner just in front of Nilson Angulo. Antwerp threatened for the first time through William Balikwisha: after good pressing from Olivier Deman, he had a shot, but Colin Coosemans remained untroubled. Shortly after, Angulo produced a beautiful piece of skill, controlling the ball perfectly, cutting inside, and curling a shot toward goal—saved by Lammens. In the following phase, the ball fell to Mats Rits at the edge of the box, but his effort posed no danger. Antwerp created two more chances, including one from Mohamed Bayo who shot from a tight angle straight at Coosemans. The biggest chance for the Great Old came just before halftime, when a corner fell to Balikwisha, whose shot was blocked by Ludwig Augustinsson. The score remained 0-0 at halftime.
Besnik Hasi made two substitutions at halftime: Ali Maamar and Lucas Hey came on for Thomas Foket and Marco Kana. That move paid off: substitute Maamar delivered a perfect cross to Goto, who headed it beautifully into the top corner. Around the hour mark, the Mauves made another double substitution—goal scorer Goto and Theo Leoni made way for Samuel Edozie and Nathan De Cat. Shortly after, Denis Odoi stamped hard on Edozie’s ankle and received a second yellow card. The home side had to continue with ten men for the final half hour. Around the 70th minute, 16-year-old De Cat put the match to bed with his first goal for the first team. He controlled the ball perfectly in the box and slotted it low into the left corner. With a quarter of an hour remaining, Jan Vertonghen was also brought on. In the closing stages, Samuel Edozie made it 0-3, and Balikwisha scored a consolation goal for Antwerp with a stunning volley. Anderlecht thus won for the fourth time in a row and heads into Sunday’s cup final full of confidence.
