Gent secured a 2:1 win over Standard Liège at the Gelamko Arena on Friday evening, keeping their perfect start to the season intact. The hosts led 1:0 at the break before Christian Burgess struck late to silence any hopes of a comeback. This was the seventh round of the Jupiler Pro League, and the result leaves Gent top of the table with 19 points after seven matches.
Josue Vergara opened the scoring in the 31st minute, though Standard Liège responded before the interval when Casper Nielsen found the net in stoppage time. By then the momentum had shifted, and Gent looked more comfortable on the ball despite Standard's higher possession figure. The hosts carried the side through the middle third, with 90 passes into the final third compared to Standard's 100, but quality over quantity showed through.
The second half brought a flurry of changes around the hour mark, with Gent bringing on Matties Volckaert, Mathias Delorge and Dennis Dargahi all in the 71st minute. Things came to a head in the 83rd when Burgess finished off what had been a patient build-up, and Standard were reduced to chasing the game after that. Siebe Van Der Heyden picked up a yellow card in the 76th minute, but the hosts held every card well enough to see out the result.
Statistics told a mixed story. Gent registered six shots on target from ten inside the penalty area, while Standard managed only four on target from the same number of attempts. Shots accuracy sat at 55 per cent for the hosts against 29 for the visitors, and that difference in conversion proved decisive. We had called for a Gent win at 46 per cent confidence, and while the margin was narrow, the result followed the logic of their recent form.
Gent now sit six points clear of Standard Liège in sixth place, who have three wins, two draws and two defeats to their name. The visitors had lost 2:4 to Westerlo in their last outing, a result that exposed defensive vulnerabilities against teams that press high. Gent's run of four straight wins before that draw with Genk showed they can carry momentum through difficult periods.
What matters in these games is not the possession percentage but who takes their chances. Standard created three big chances like their opponents but failed to find the net twice, and that is where the table will go out of the window in these games. Gent proved they can win when they need to, and the gap at the top extends.
