On Sunday night, RSC Anderlecht visited STVV at Stayen. Plagued with injuries among the squad, coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck came up with an experimental starting line-up. The young Yari Verschaeren made his debut in the first team.
The Canaries put pressure on the visitors from the start and took the lead after less than 10 minutes. Romain Bezus opened the score thanks to an assist by Yohan Boli. The Purple & White then fought their way into the game. This growing dominance did not result in much danger, until Ivan Santini scored the equalizer with a header after half an hour’s worth of play. Francis Amuzu was the man who provided the nice assist. The team from Brussels continued their streak and the young Yari Verschaeren took a swing, on a centre by Antonio Milic, but the ball hit the post.
Early on in the second half, Pieter Gerkens failed to take the lead after some good play by Francis Amuzu. Not much later on, Verschaeren sent the same Amuzu in the box, where he was fouled by Kenny Steppe. Ivan Santini converted the penalty and scored his second goal of the night. The home team took a blow, or so it seemed, because a few minutes later on, the game changed completely. Japanese players Takehiro Tomiyasu and Daichi Kamada turned the 1-2 into a 3-2. The coach intervened: Ognjen Vranjes, Pieter Gerkens and Yari Verschaeren were replaced by James Lawrence, Zakaria Bakkali and the 16-year-old Jeremy Doku. The second new player in the first team showed his potential right away. He reached James Lawrence in the box, but the latter was not able to beat Steppe. At the end of the match, Yohan Boli put the 4-2 final score on the board.
STVV: Steppe, Tomiyasu, Garcia, De Sart, Botaka (56’ Acoltase), Bezus (82’ Legear), Boli, Asamoah, Kamada, de Norre & Texeira
RSCA: Didillon, Saelemaekers, Bornauw, Vranjes (73’ Lawrence), Milic, Sambi-Lokonga, Verschaeren (77’ Doku), Makarenko, Amuzu, Gerkens (73’ Bakkali) & Santini
Goals: 8’ Bezus (1-0), 38’ Santini (1-1),51’ Santini (1-2), 62’ Tomiyasu (2-2), 65’ Kamada (3-2) & 90+3’ Boli (4-2)
