Club NXT plays 1-1 draw against RSCA Futures

After the brilliant performance in the Youth League against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the difficult away game to Anderlecht was on the program. At the Heysel Stadium, Club NXT quickly took the lead through Lennart Mertens' first goal of the season. At the stroke of halftime, David Hubert brought the boards into balance. In an exciting second half, no more goals were scored.

Coach Nicky Hayen could only use goalkeeper Nick Shinton and Owen Otasowie from the first team against Purple White. In a drizzling Heysel Stadium, however, our youngsters got off to a quick start. Captain Arne Engels conjured a perfect assist out of his hat and Lennart Mertens popped the 0-1 after only three minutes.

A perfect start, but Anderlecht was not impressed. Goalkeeper Shinton then had to stop a first attempt by Angulo. Both Talbi and Vermant missed chances to level the score; Talbi kicked wide and Vermant popped high over goal. Anderlecht began to take more and more control of the game. De Wilde's shot disappeared narrowly wide of the post outside. A free kick by the Brusselers hit the post just after. Club NXT crawled through the eye of the needle.

Shion Homma, popping up everywhere, went for his own chance and shot right at goalkeeper Verbruggen. The Bruges goalkeeper also showed his class and stopped Agyei's shot. Afterwards, Vermant, who had broken through, was wrongly stopped by the home goalie, but unfortunately, due to narrowly offside, no penalty was whistled. Anderlecht still pressed Club NXT backwards. A new attempt by the Brusselers hit the post after a corner kick. Goalkeeper Shinton then stopped another attempt by Agyei. The injured Otasowie was replaced by Ordoñez. In the added time of the first half, David Hubert scored the 1-1 draw with a header. Very sour for Club NXT that lost its early lead with half-time in sight.

The first big chance in the second half was for Blauw-Zwart. The nimble Homma served Talbi who in turn ran at lightning speed towards Verbruggen, but his effort went over the goal. Cuevas narrowly prevented Anderlecht from scoring its second goal. He worked the ball into a corner for the onrushing home player. Coach Hayen replaced the tired Homma with Vanrafelghem. The home team also made a number of substitutions.

Captain Stassin tested the fists of goalkeeper Shinton who pulled out all the stops to prevent a counter goal. Several times he stopped shots on goal by the home team. On the other side, the strongly defending Jorne Spileers went for his chance. However, his shot went over the Brussels goal. Club NXT was lucky again when a free kick by Angulo hit the crossbar. De Roeve and Audoor filled in for Talbi and Engels with 15 minutes left to play. Denzel De Roeve had a strong comeback. He regularly advanced on his right flank and painted several sharp crosses for goal. Unfortunately, no one from Club NXT could finish these chances. Even Cuevas just couldn't offer Vermant the perfect cross.

In the closing stages of the match, both teams went looking intensely for the winning goal. Vanrafelghem was unable to score for NXT. His attempt deviated and the ball disappeared into a corner kick. The last chance of the match was for the home team. Goalkeeper Shinton was attentive one last time and stopped Leoni's blast. Thus, the score remained at 1-1. A creditable draw for Club NXT. On Monday, our youngsters leave for Porto where they will play their second match in the Youth League.

RSCA Futures: Bart Verbruggen, David Hubert, Lucas Lissens, Ethan Butera, Nilson Angulo (86' Alonzo Engwanda), Abdulrazak Ishaq, Théo Leoni, Nils De Wilde (80' Chris Lokesa), Moussa N'Diaye (86' Loïc Masscho), Lucas Stassin, Enock Ageyi (63' Ilay Camara).
Coach: Robin Veldman.

Club NXT: Nick Shinton, Aimar Cuevas, Owen Otasowie (39' Joël Ordoñez), Jorne Spileers, Kyriani Sabbe, Arne Engels (75' Sem Audoor), Liam De Smet, Shion Homma (61' Keano Vanrafelghem), Chemsdine Talbi (75' Denzel De Roeve), Romeo Vermant, Lennart Mertens. Bench: Henri Maton, Lukas Mondele, Lenn De Smet.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.

Goals: 3' Lennart Mertens 0-1, 45'+2' David Hubert 1-1.

Yellow: 44' English, 67' Angulo, 76' Audoor, 78' Butera, 88' Stassin.

Referee: Simon Bourdeaud'hui

Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels.