Club NXT U23 loses its last home match against RFC Liège 1-2

Club NXT U23 played a good game against RFC Liège, where former Club players Gaetan Englebert and Eric Deflandre are coaches. Two avoidable goals in each half resulted in an undeserved 1-2 defeat. Arslan and Bruggeman were the goal scorers. In between, birthday boy Liam De Smet scored the 1-1.

Club NXT started with our two 16-year-old youngsters in the starting lineup. Da Silva and Bisiwu thanked the coach with a strong performance. Shinton was again in goal. Talbi also got the start. Liege got off to the best start. Goalkeeper Shinton had to tap a surprising shot by Arslan over the cover after only five minutes. After Granados lost the ball, Arslan tried again, but this time his shot went over the goal. After a little more than fifteen minutes of play, Shinton had to save the furniture with a catnap. Indeed, a cross from the right was well headed down by Bruggeman. Our goalie had no recourse when Jano Willems gave the ball to Arslan. The latter did not hesitate for seconds and kicked the ball into the empty goal. 0-1, Club NXT behind.

Captain Seys set the example for his teammates. He set up a nice action on the flank and put in front of goal, where Lenn De Smet just couldn't reach it. Bisiwu in turn launched Talbi, who could not finish. Et-Taïbi, meanwhile, kept the score from getting any bigger. He literally threw himself in spectacular fashion for a cross so Bruggeman could not score the 0-2. For its part, Club NXT U23 had two chances to score the equalizer. First Lenn De Smet put the leather in front of goal, then Seys. Bisiwu popped the ball outside the goal frame. After a foul on Lenn De Smet, Granados kicked the free kick over the Liège goal. Club NXT continuously looked for a hole in the Liege defense, but failed for now. Et-Taïbi kicked hard toward goal, but the goalkeeper and the post stood in the way. It yielded only a corner kick. One last chance before halftime departed from the industrious Bisiwu. The leather came via Talbi to Lenn De Smet who kicked right at the Liege goalkeeper. We went to rest with a small deficit.

At the start of the second half, Homma replaced Talbi. Granados went in search of the equalizer. He kicked from long range, unfortunately wide of the goal. The game went smoothly back and forth, but finding a hole in the defense did not succeed for the time being. Both coaches started making eager substitutions. The teams kept each other in balance. It was Blauw-Zwart who managed to score. Homma shot at goal, goalie Debaty had trouble catching the ball. The quickly running in Liam De Smet was able to score the 1-1 in front of Debaty. For long, Club NXT U23 could not enjoy the equalizer. A low cross from Nyssen went past everything and everyone. The sliding Bruggeman was able to push the ball in. 1-2, a cold shower for Club NXT U23 that had the best chances in the second half. Our youngsters kept looking frantically for the equalizer. Furo got the ball via a perfect cross but his header was not powerful enough to beat the Liège goalkeeper. Unfortunately, no more goals were scored. Club NXT U23 lost for the third consecutive time, after a very solid performance. Only one more match in the competition remains: next Saturday at the Heysel against the Futures of Anderlecht.

Club NXT U23: Nick Shinton, Joaquin Seys, Jano Willems, Bi Kader Yameogo, Amine Et-Taïbi (84' William Simba), Alejandro Granados (61' Laurens Goemaere), Liam De Smet, Jessi Da Silva (75' Kaye Furo), Chemsdine Talbi (46' Shion Homma), Jesse Bisiwu (61' Mohamed Salah), Lenn De Smet. Bank: Axl De Corte, Tobias Lund Jensen, Oleksandr Yakymenko, Sem Audoor. Coach: Robin Veldman.

RFC Liège: Kevin Debaty, Benoit Nyssen, Benjamin Lambot, Jordan Bustin, Jonathan D'Ostilio, Reno Wilmots, Ryan Merlen (86' Benjamin Van den Ackerveken), Alessio Cascio (86' Maxime Cavelier), Mohamed Mouhli (72' Jérémie Lioka), Benoit Bruggeman (86' Lucca Lucker), Abian Arslan (58' Yannick Loemba). Bench: Joshua Mpenza, Emilien Massart, Tom Panepinto, Damien Mouchamps. Coach: Gaetan Englebert.

Goals: 22' Arslan 0-1, 75' Liam De Smet 1-1, 82' Bruggeman 1-2.

Yellow cards: 38' Cascio, 64' Da Silva, 78' Furo, 84' Merlen, 90+3' Lenn De Smet, 90+3' Salah, 90+3' Lucker.

Referee: Dunken Van de Velde.

Stadium: The Nest Roeselare.

Spectators: 516.