Lokeren 6 - 3 Duvels (388558470)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 40198 that came out to Lubanski dome. Beniamino Giorgio was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jürgen Oberlin and Gianluca De Santis. Lokeren started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Staessen - Van Der Venne, Piette, Jacques - Barbosa, 佐藤 (Sato), Caus, van der Heijde, Tucto - Oveneke, Dutheil.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Duvels. The following players took the field: Campanini - Lelie, Breesch, Särkijoki - Michels, Ivanišević, Guidry, Verpoest, Denchev - Puigpinós, Colazzo.

Lokeren's A. Barbosa was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - G. Oveneke managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 1 - 0 after 9 minutes. The visiting team's J. Ivanišević was able to score the 1 - 1 equaliser with a header 23 minutes into the match, after some good work on the right. At 24 minutes played, H. Dutheil came in from the right with the intention of giving Lokeren the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. The Lokeren free kick 25 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of J. Piette, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 2 - 1! The home side's G. Van Der Venne came close to extending the lead 26 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but O. Campanini managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. It was 2 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Lokeren, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

Given a free kick close to the byline, Duvels tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let C. Puigpinós slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 2 - 2, 48 minutes into the game. Duvels's F. Lelie was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 49 minutes. It wasn't a pretty goal, but the free kick by C. Tucto after 56 minutes somehow found its way past the keeper. Lokeren takes the lead, 3 - 2! The sun seemed to put 賢. 佐藤 (Sato) in a great mood, and he showed off his technical skills all match long. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Lokeren scored another to make it 4 - 2 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for A. Barbosa after 63 minutes. Confident in their lead, Lokeren's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Duvels's A. Verpoest was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 65 minutes. A. Engi was given a chance to change things around. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, H. Särkijoki took over the role of being the Duvels captain. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, A. Engi got himself booked. The manager of Duvels was not happy. H. Arciego was called on to replace Lokeren's G. Van Der Venne after 67 minutes following a nasty collision. Duvels managed to reduce the score to 4 - 3 as J. Ivanišević finished off a well-played combination from the left, easily carving through the defence. Lokeren solidified their lead at the 69 minute mark, as S. Jacques dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 5 - 3. 76 minutes into the game, H. Särkijoki had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came A. Malarski. O. Campanini was the new captain of Duvels - handed the armband by the departing player. After 79 minutes, Lokeren's C. Tucto found the back of the goal with a beautiful free kick. 6 - 3. Lokeren enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

The most dominating Lokeren player was without a doubt H. Dutheil. H. Arciego turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Duvels player was F. Michels. On the other hand, A. Colazzo's play was disheartening. The match ends 6 - 3.