Lee Johnson made 2 changes compared to last week against Jong Genk. The 19-year-old Spaniard Alvaro Santos, who had to start on the bench last week, got his chance back in the starting line-up at the expense of Nicolas Siri. Amankwah Yeboah also got his third starting place, the Ghanaian came in for Yvann Titi. 

The opening phase started as expected at a very high pace. RWDM that tried to put pressure on the Groen-Wit from the start and was dangerous for the first time after a corner kick in the 4th minute. The Brussels team constantly put high pressure on Lommel's possession. This does not immediately result in further chances or goal attempts, but it immediately shows RWDM's intention.

Lommel that came up for the first time in the 11th minute in RWDM's half. which resulted in a promising breakthrough and a corner. RWDM's high pressing from the beginning of the fifteen minutes seemed to die down a bit. Most of the ball possession remained for the Brussels team. Just at the start of the 2nd quarter, it was a real scare for SK for the first time, after a razor-sharp breakaway, right forward Mickaël Biron steamed towards Pieklak, who kicked him wide. Less than 2 minutes later, the Groen-Wit were dangerous for the first time. After Salah's sharp entry in, he missed the shortest corner.  A nice and fierce viewing piece in the first 20 minutes with opportunities on both sides. 

After 20 minutes of play, Lommel SK started to claim possession a bit more, which not much later resulted in a 2nd opportunity for Mohamed Salah who was able to come in in the same way and take a shot. This gives the Groen-Wit a corner after a slight deviation. After playing briefly on lalic, it was kicked to the 2nd post where Dries Wouters was able to receive the ball freely and serve our captain, who put it in very neatly with the inside of his foot. Lommel SK thus took a 0-1 lead after 27 minutes of football!

Less than 3 minutes later, Schoofs was dangerous again, with a shot that was slightly deviated, allowing goalkeeper Lathouwers to convert it into a corner. RWDM had trouble with a sharp and good footballing Lommel, which tried to take the upper hand. RWDM, which seemed a bit upset in the first minutes after the goal against, tried to get back into the game. The scorching pace of the first half hour seemed to die down a bit, with a few more attacking opportunities from RWDM in the closing stages of the first half. These were all well taken care of by a strong Lommel defense.

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Surviving
RWDM came out of the dressing room sharp again in the 2nd half, with an extra attacking player brought in. This also resulted in a first dangerous opportunity for the Brussels team in the opening phase. Lommel SK that was immediately warned. The RWDM Supporters also came out of the dressing room sharp with fireworks and pyro promised to be an exciting sequel. Lommel showed after 52 minutes that they had not only come out for defending. With a quick counterattack that resulted in a dangerous shot by Santos and a header opportunity by Van Duiven, RWDM was also warned twice.

After an hour of football, the stress started to creep in for the Brussels team. After another strong defense by Yeboah, they started to realize both on and off the field that the promotion against Groen-Wit could not be picked up for free. The Brussels supporters began to be more and more concerned with whistling at the referee than encouraging their eleven. Still, RWDM certainly didn't give up yet. After a quick combination through the heart of the Lommel defense, Pieklak also had to show his worth with a quick reflex on a player who had broken through in the box.

Lommel that was pushed back more to around its own sixteen and started to have more trouble keeping possession. The first substitution was therefore a slightly more defensive one, with the introduction of Ibrahima Kebe for Leon Lalic, who had suffered a blow a few minutes earlier. The 70 minutes of football ended with another dangerous opportunity from RWDM after a well-played counterattack, although the ball ended up in the safe hands of Matthias Pieklak again. 

At the start of the final fifteen minutes, where Lommel had to retreat more and more into and around their own sixteen, it promised to be a nail-biting finale. Lee Johnson felt that his team needed fresh forces to maintain the lead. Nikolas Siri and Faniel Tewelde came in for right back Amankwah Yeboah and right forward Mohamed Salah. In the meantime, corner after corner followed, which was always well processed by a fighting Lommel SK. In the 85th minute, the equalizer seemed to be a fact, but RWDM striker Parzyscek managed to kick the ball onto the crossbar from the small box line. 2 Minutes before the end of regular time, no foul was whistled on Kebe, so Pieklak had to intervene again on a free shooting opportunity from the Lommel 16-meter. 

Six minutes extra were added, which meant that Lommel had to go into the trenches for a while longer.  a lot of high pressure, a lot of crosses and a lot of stress in the Lommel dugout. Especially in the 96th minute when RWDM hit the goal frame with a shot to the shortest corner. When the whistle finally blew in the 98th minute, Lommel could finally celebrate. While RWDM was disappointed, we could breathe a sigh of relief. After a strong collective performance by Groen-Wit, RWDM's promotion party will be postponed by at least a week.

Next week, Lommel SK will take on another promotion candidate. La Louvière, which sees its chances increase after RWDM's defeat. So it promises to be another exciting match in the Sovereign Stadium. Especially after the 6 out of 6 of Groen-Wit, we can look forward to next week with confidence. Delen op