Royal Antwerp beat Spurs, more Europa League misery for AA Gent and Standard
Of the three Belgian clubs competing in the Europa League on Thursday Royal Antwerp FC was only one to take three points. The Great Old beat the English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur by a single goal. Despite a good first half performance Standard de Liège went down 3-0 to Benfica in Lisbon. German efficiency proved too strong for AA Gent with Hoffenheim beating the Buffaloes 1-4 in Ghent’s Ghelamco Arena.
It has been a great start to the season for Royal Antwerp FC. The Great Old currently top the Belgian First Division and their first European campaign in a quarter of a century has seen them take six points from their first two Europa League games. On Thursday it was the English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur that made the relatively hop to Antwerp to take on the Great Old.
Things didn’t go quite to plan for Spurs and Antwerp really turned up the heat after around quarter of an hour of play. The home side scored from on 30 minutes from a wide-open shot in the box from Lior Refaelov. Antwerp and never let Tottenham back in the match after that and the final score was 1-0. Antwerp currently top their group with 6 points from 2 game.
Standard soundly beaten despite a strong first half
Standard de Liège lost their second group stage match against the Portuguese football giants Benfica 3-0 on Thursday evening. Standard play a strong first half.
However, two penalties converted by Pizzi on 50 minutes and Waldschmidt on 67 minutes and another goal from Pizzi on 77 minutes saw Standard soundly beaten. Standard are currently bottom of their group with 0 points from 2 games.
Hoffenhiem exploit AA Gent’s weaknesses
The German side Hoffenheim enjoyed a convincing 1-4 win at AA Gent on Thursday. Hoffenheim’s goals from a Belfodil penalty on 37 minutes, a Grillitsch goal on 53 minutes, a goal from Gacinovic on 74 minutes and Dabbur in the 5th minute of injury time. AA Gent’s goal came from Tim Kleindienst in the 4 minute of injury time.
As in domestic competition AA Gent have failed to impress in the Europa League this season so far. They have 0 points from their first two games and are bottom of their group.
