Union Sint-Gillis beats Van Bommels Antwerp and wins its first cup since 1914

Royal Antwerp has failed to win the Croky Cup for the second year in a row. The team of outgoing coach Mark van Bommel lost 1-0 to Union Sint-Gillis in the King Baudouin Stadium. Koki Machida tapped in just before half time and made the difference against the relatively powerless Antwerp: 1-0. It is Union’s first cup win since 1914 and its first prize at the highest level since 1935, when the national title was won.

In Union’s 3-5-2 formation, Gustaf Nilsson and Mohamed Amoura were coach Alexander Blessin’s two strikers. In midfield, Alessio Castro-Montes and Loïc Lapoussin functioned as refined wingers. Christian Burgess was a doubt, but the English center back could just start. At Antwerp, four Dutchmen were in the starting line-up with Owen Wijndal, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, Gyrano Kerk and Vincent Janssen. Chidera Ejuke, ex-SC Heerenveen, was sitting on the bench. Michel-Ange Balikwisha was preferred.

The opening phase of the first half undoubtedly belonged to Union, which surrounded Antwerp and looked for holes in the defense. However, the people of Brussels were unable to gain much of the dominance. Nilsson was hindered just enough by Zeno Van Den Bosch, allowing Senne Lammens to easily pick up the ball. Shortly after that moment, the Antwerp goalie did not have to take action after all, as he just couldn’t make it in front of his goal after a scrimmage.

Antwerp had little possession of the ball, but still showed themselves to be threatening. Wijndal, who had come along, pulled back excellently on Janssen, who saw his shot turned away by Lapoussin. Janssen claimed hands, which was not the case. Just after Ritchie De Laet had headed over from a free kick, Ekkelenkamp came closest to a goal. Janssen slipped, after which the ball landed perfectly at Ekkelenkamp’s feet. The former Ajax player hit the outside of the post with a hard and low shot.

Not much happened in the closing stages of the first half. Union kept possession of the ball, while Antwerp would no longer pose a real threat before halftime. Just before half-time, Lapoussin made a nice scissor move towards the second post, where Nilsson headed against the back of Van Den Bosch. Union scored from the subsequent corner kick. Van Den Bosch unintentionally headed the ball to the far post, where Machida simply tapped in with his left: 1-0.

The second half started with fireworks, but in a different way as Van Bommel may have intended. Antwerp supporters threw massive fireworks on and along the field, forcing the fire brigade to intervene and the game was stopped for five minutes. Antwerp started the game with renewed energy and claimed a penalty after Burgess’ arm ended up in Ekkelenkamp’s face. Referee Erik Lambrechts and the VAR did not see it as an eleven-meter kick.

Antwerp played enthusiastically and with pressure forward. However, the field play remained substandard, meaning opportunities remained scarce. The exception to the mediocre game was Kerk’s nice back heel, which enabled Balikwisha to shoot. The Belgian winger saw his shot fall onto the Union goal after intervention from a Brussels leg. On the other hand, Nilsson failed to end the game. The Swede headed over after an excellent preparatory action by Lapoussin.

A mistake by Burgess on the back line suddenly gave Ekkelenkamp a great chance. The attacking midfielder dribbled towards goal. Due to the extremely sharp angle, Ekkelenkamp was unable to find an opening and Union goalie Anthony Moris made the save. Antwerp pressed and played extremely optimistically. However, a goal was no longer possible the Great Oldwhich escaped the 2-0 in the counterattack.

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