Grimbergen 5 - 1 Olympique (385969693)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Centre de Greffe du Foie saw a crowd turnout of 26871. Gabriele Perrucci was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Juho Häikiö and Ben Valdman. Grimbergen started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. Lineup: Velthoen - Janeczko, Guastini - Leclercq, Schönwetter, Caillou, Kolendarić, Forstner - Roccotiello, Grönholt, Azulay.

Olympique tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Cartier - Léveillé, Cailleteau, Yoruç - Tolengo, Marrot, Diop, Poulin, Tabak - Leleux, Maxant.

It was an obvious ambition of Olympique to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. J. Kolendarić caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 12 minutes. This gave Grimbergen the 1 - 0 lead. 21 minutes into the match, a typically brave header by P. Azulay from É. Leclercq's cross looped just over the opposing goalkeeper's desperate reach. Goal for Grimbergen, making the score 2 - 0. J. Kolendarić received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 29 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. G. Roccotiello squirmed through their central defence after 34 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 0. By now, the players in Grimbergen felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. 36 minutes in, an amazing pass from the left side resulted in a goal for the visitors, as B. Tabak anticipated the through ball and scored, reducing the deficit to 3 - 1. M. Grönholt had a fantastic opportunity to put Grimbergen up another goal 39 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Grimbergen increased the lead as G. Roccotiello struck to make the score 4 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. 4 - 1 was the halftime score. Grimbergen enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 61 percent of possession.

Grimbergen's M. Grönholt swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Grimbergen managed to extend their lead to 5 - 1 when M. Guastini cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. The swift technical skills of M. Grönholt were often too much for the tall but somewhat slow H. Marrot who was humiliated after 60 minutes. He'll be breathing a huge sigh of relief after the final shot went wide. After 66 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by É. Leclercq might have resulted in another goal for Grimbergen. However, A. Cartier made a spectacular save. With 78 minutes played, M. Grönholt could have brought this one home for Grimbergen as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. J. Kolendarić could have increased the lead after 80 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. There was concern in the stands when, at the 87 minute mark, Grimbergen's P. Azulay hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grimbergen, with 60 percent of the ball.

Most important Grimbergen player was P. Azulay. É. Leclercq on the other hand, had a terrible day. Olympique's best player was F. Maxant. On the other hand, A. Cartier's play was disheartening. The match ends 5 - 1.