Eupen collects his 10 points against KV Mechelen, who misses a penalty

Wouter Vranken made three changes to Kehrweg. Becker (the injured), Pierre (the stomach flu), and Sawyerz disappeared from the team. They were replaced by Walsh, Vanlerberg and Van Hornbeck. In Eupen, Beck and Prevljak pushed Alloh and Müsel out of the team. Slow sunshine covered three-quarters of the Eupense grass, but the first minutes of play were mainly spent in the shade bar. The visitors forced the Ostkantoners against their own net without any danger.

When Eupen once broke out, it was all up to you. Van Hoorenbeeck was able to keep Prevljak away from a ready-to-goal shooting opportunity. From the ensuing corner kick by Peters, Lambert nodded at the back of Van Drongelen, however, 1-0 past Koke. For KV Mechelen it was the 18th goal against a corner kick or free kick this season. And soon there was No. 19. After a skewed shot by Kuipers on the surface of the goal, Lambert was allowed to head again on the other side. This time the Hairemans saved the streak. With each phase of the stagnation, nerves in the Mechelen camp are getting strained these days. A new counterstrike from Nuhu vanished next to Coucke’s cage.

packets at once

KV Mechelen had to recover for a while, although he recovered very quickly. Walsh advanced along and found the next Schoofs, who managed to score a simultaneous equalizer very cleverly. However, the rear always had to be careful when the fast Nuhu started to run against Van Drongelen. In one outbreak in Nohu, Vanlerberg was able to intercept the Ghanaian’s pass.

Meanwhile, Malinwa tried it out with long shots from Cuypers, Hairemans and Souza (2x). The latter was cut short by Franken, because his attempt seemed futile. It reminds us of the many attempts Umm Qawit launched on STVV a few weeks ago.

While the match had started well for the hosts, they seemed to have thrown it away completely shortly before the break. Amat van Drongelen dragged the field and referee Fergut pointed hard at the penalty point. In the ensuing turmoil, Amat took the yellow, only to take the second yellow a minute later and at the same stage to push Vanlerberg. Eupen with his ten, although the final blow did not come. Al-Murabati shot 11 meters inside the post, and remained 1-1 until the end of the first half.

After the coffee, it was up to KV Mechelen to exploit the numerical superiority, even though the first big chance was one for the home team. Steve Peters was allowed to dock outside the sixteen by about five metres. Coucke turned his bid into a corner. On the flip side, Merabet had something nice on his mind on Walsh’s cross, but he missed his bike kick completely. KVM has now firmly taken matters into their own hands. Hermanns Walsh served, but Noureddine saved his head with a great show.

Final attack without success

The quarter-final was preceded by a tough duel, in which Agbadou had been groggy for a while and had to be taken care of. Then the Ivorian went to fairness and was immediately booked by Fergut. Malinwa tried to increase the pressure and tried to break through Eupense’s defense belt during the combination. Served by Hermanns van Hornbeek, who saw his passing pass being intercepted. In general, everything was a little bad at yellow and red after the break. Hardly a single chance against ten Eupen residents in 45 minutes was less than guaranteeing victory. He was so lucky that Coucke whipped another Magnee attempt from under the bar in added time and saved the post with a shot from the same Magnee. In this way, KVM missed a new opportunity to take a big step towards the playoff in Europe. Eupen, in turn, should continue to look anxiously at Seraing’s outcome.