St. Truiden claimed a comfortable 1-4 victory over Antwerp in the Jupiler Pro League on Saturday, a result that did little to ease the hosts' mounting concerns. The visitors opened the scoring in the ninth minute through R. Araki before extending their lead in the second half. S. Porozo made it 2-1 after the interval, and though Antwerp pulled one back, St. Truiden responded with three more goals to seal the win.
By then, the game had already taken its course. S. Bazdar struck in the 73rd minute, and K. Matsuzawa added a fourth just three minutes later. Bazdar completed his brace in the 90th minute, while the hosts' lone goal came through Porozo's own effort — though the scorer's name appears listed under Antwerp's statistics, the goal was credited to the visitors' campaign.
And here's the thing about this match: Antwerp dominated possession at 58 per cent but created nothing of note. They registered eight shots on target with zero big chances, while St. Truiden, with less than half the ball, carved out six. The statistics tell a story of control without consequence — 443 total passes against 321, yet the visitors were far more decisive in the final third.
To be fair, Antwerp had looked solid in their previous outings. A 4-4 draw with Genk and a 3-0 win over Kortrijk suggested a team finding rhythm. But this performance revealed a different side entirely. They got dragged out of position repeatedly, and their defensive structure appeared to have little answer for St. Truiden's movement.
The substitutions told their own tale. Antwerp brought on L. Narh for L. Schelfhout after just 46 minutes, and added I. Salah, T. Somers, A. Muja, R. Araki and C. Scott in quick succession. St. Truiden made fewer changes but introduced their impact players at the right moments. O. Diouf came on in the 61st minute, and by then the visitors had already established control.
As for the table, Antwerp remain sixth with seven points from three games, while St. Truiden sit twelfth on two points from two matches. The gap between them is not merely mathematical — it is evident in how each side approached this encounter. One team played with purpose, the other with uncertainty.