Belgium round-up: Standard slip again

R. Standard de Liège’s Belgian First Division title hopes received another setback on Sunday as they slipped to their third consecutive league defeat, going down 2-0 at R. Excelsior Mouscron.

Nine points adrift
Defeats to RWD Molenbeek and K. Sint Truidense in their last two outings have seen Standard slip down to sixth in the table, nine points adrift of the leaders Club Brugge KV.

Van Meir sees red
Gordan Vidovic’s header put the home side into the lead after 23 minutes and Standard defender Eric van Meir was dismissed for bringing down Steve Dugardein in the area shortly after half-time.

Missed penalty
Although Dejan Mitrovic missed the ensuing spot-kick, he made amends ten minutes later as he struck a glorious shot into the roof of the net to seal the victory. Standard finished a miserable evening with nine men on the field of play after Harald Meyssen saw red 12 minutes from time.

Spoils shared
Elsewhere, KVC Westerlo and R. Charleroi SC shared the points after playing out a thrilling 3-3 draw. Charleroi took a fourth-minute lead through Darko Pivaljevic, but were reduced to ten men after Frank Defays’ 34th-minute dismissal.

Ten men salvage draw
Westerlo’s Ode Thompson scored either side of the interval to put his side ahead but Dariusz Yazdani pulled Charleroi level again on the hour. Then Bjorn Smits restored Westerlo’s advantage moments later but Sergio Rojas held his nerve to equalise from the penalty spot three minutes from time.

Kolotilko stays cool
There was another late penalty in the game between Molenbeek and Sint Truidense. Ice-cool Alexandre Kolotilko secured three valuable points for struggling Molenbeek after team-mate Michael Origi’s first-half strike had been cancelled out by Danny Boffin’s spot-kick just after the break.