Duvels 5 - 0 Lokeren (388558477)

Clouds darkened the skies at Potgrond as 44288 spectators turned up for the match. Alessandro Formenti was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ville-Valtteri Litmanen and Peter Nielsen. Duvels decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Campanini - Lelie, Breesch, Särkijoki - Denchev, Ivanišević, Guidry, Verpoest, Michels - Pirini, Puigpinós.

Lokeren started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Staessen - Vankerckhoven, Piette, Jacques - Barbosa, 佐藤 (Sato), Caus, van der Heijde, Tucto - Oveneke, Dutheil.

Lokeren had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 16 minutes in when C. Tucto came up alone against O. Campanini who managed a block. Duvels took the lead after 21 minutes as a result of H. Särkijoki's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. Duvels managed to extend their lead to 2 - 0 when F. Michels cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. The crowd gasped as M. Vankerckhoven of Lokeren was flattened by an opponent after 33 minutes and had to be carried off. O. Peerlings came in off the bench. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, G. Oveneke got himself booked. The manager of Lokeren was not happy. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Duvels, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

Duvels's L. Guidry was shown a yellow card after 50 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Unfortunately for Lokeren, S. Jacques was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. J. A’zamov replaced him. The corner kick from F. Lelie was powerfully met by the head of I. Denchev to make the score 3 - 0. Lokeren kept trying to force their way through on the right side and D. van der Heijde got his chance after 59 minutes, but the home side's defence held their position and stopped the attack. The coach of Duvels was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 69 minutes, A. Engi came on for A. Verpoest. H. Särkijoki was the new captain of Duvels - handed the armband by the departing player. After 72 minutes, Duvels's F. Michels swiftly ran past J. Piette and nutmegged the keeper! 4 - 0. The players of Duvels now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. After 76 minutes Lokeren's A. Barbosa limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Duvels's I. Denchev increasing the lead to 5 - 0. J. A’zamov of Lokeren received a yellow card after 79 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. With 80 minutes played, A. Engi could have brought this one home for Duvels as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. Lokeren's A. Barbosa left the field after 83 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was H. Akselsen. Duvels had most of the ball, with 56 percent of possession.

Duvels's top performer was clearly A. Engi. F. Lelie on the other hand, had a terrible day. C. Tucto performed admirably for Lokeren. However, J. A’zamov made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 0.