Union Saint-Gilloise produced a comprehensive victory away at Westerlo, winning 5:1 in the first round of the Jupiler Pro League on Saturday evening. The visitors were ruthless in front of goal, taking advantage of moments when the hosts switched off at the back. It was a performance that left Westerlo sitting 13th on four points after five games.
And here's the thing about how this one started. Bassette opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and you could see the confidence in the visitors' movement from that point. Westerlo pushed forward but found themselves chasing shadows, and David made it two before half-time in the 28th minute. By then the hosts had already picked up two yellow cards, which seemed to tighten things up.
The second half brought a different kind of pressure. Florucz found the net in the 57th minute, and then the visitors switched gears entirely. Mofokeng added a fourth in the 64th minute, and Guilherme Smith completed the scoring in the 81st minute. Olaru made it five in the 84th, and Westerlo simply had nothing to do all evening after that point.
To be fair, Westerlo dominated possession at 55 per cent, but possession without penetration is just passing in circles. They registered 115 attacks but created zero big chances, while the visitors managed four from 92 attacks. The shot accuracy tells the story—25 per cent for the hosts against 53 per cent for the visitors. Money has come for the hosts, but they haven't found a way back into it.
The substitutions told their own story. Westerlo brought on Saito in the 80th minute, looking for something, but the game was already beyond recovery. The visitors had their work cut out for them defensively, but they held firm and moved up to second place with 13 points from five matches.
By then the table goes out of the window in these games, but the gap between these two sides is clear. Westerlo now face a long road back, while Union Saint-Gilloise continue their unbeaten start with a performance that was clinical when it mattered most.