Lierse Kempenzonen grabbed their first win of the season in the D1B Pro League against RWD Molenbeek. The hosts only had 28% possession against Molenbeek, but were way more effective offensively. They patiently waited playing a low defensive line and tried to hurt the opponents on the break. Lierse started strong and scored two goals in the first 30 minutes, but after that the momentum shifted. Yven Yagan scored two goals for RWDM and tied up the game. In the final 30 minutes Lierse still managed to get the win with goals from Samyn and Gilis.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Jo Gilis
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 05/02/2000
- Current club: Lierse K., on loan from OH Leuven
- Career: OH Leuven, SC Eendracht Aalst (L), Lierse K. (L)
- Position: Attacking Midfield
- Secondary position: Striker, Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Jo Gilis played as the attacking midfielder in Lierse’s side and played a good game. In the 15th minute, Gilis got the ball in the box and won a penalty after a smart touch. He also scored the final goal of the game. After Savan Petrov crossed the ball to the far post Gilis volleyed the ball past the goalkeeper. The 5’8” midfielder seemed to lack a little bit physically. Gilis had a good burst of pace but wasn’t that quick over distances and needs to work on his strength.
The 20-year old was quite involved this game for Lierse. Gilis was often found in the box of the opponents, positioning himself very smartly looking well to where striker Petrov was. Jo Gilis made a lot of runs in behind the defense of RWDM, but these had little success since the quality of the passes he received was quite poor and also because he was offside a couple of times. When trying to get the ball in his feet Gilis showed some good technique. His first touch allowed him to turn past his opponents quickly and he made a couple of good dribbles on RWDM’s half. These dribbles weren’t effective enough though. Gilis lost too many offensive duels and got pushed off the ball to easy a couple of times in the small spaces that RWDM offered. He also made a couple of poor decisions in the final third for Lierse, which ended two promising attacks.
Gilis’ passing was very impressive this game as he only misplaced a single pass. He played quite some simple passes, but going forward his passes always had pin-point accuracy. He didn’t play a lot of long balls, but played a great diagonal cross pass in the second half showing great passing range as well.
Rating – A2
Gilis is a very hardworking attacking midfielder that surely has the potential to be useful in the Jupiler Pro League. He has some areas where he can surely improve, but he should slot nicely in OH Leuven’s first XI next season.
Yentl Van Genechten
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 18/08/2000
- Current club: Lierse K.
- Career: KV Mechelen (Y), KVC Westerlo, KVV Thes Sport, Lierse K.
- Position: Right Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Yentl van Genechten played as the right back in Lierse’s four man defense and wasn’t too involved offensively. As Lierse played very defensively it didn’t look like the full backs had a lot of freedom to move forward and attack. The few times van Genechten pushed up forward he did quite well. In the 85th minute for example he made a great run to put pressure high up the pitch and got the ball from it. After playing a good pass to the right Lierse scored the 4-2 through Jo Gilis.
Van Genechten was defending very proactively and often tried to intercept the ball before it reached its target. He intercepted a lot of balls because of did and did quite well defending aggressively, but it caused a couple of dangerous situations as well, where he missed the ball trying to get it a little too early. Van Genechten did quite well in his defensive 1v1’s and almost always had some help from his teammates who made sure that the left winger couldn’t cut inside. There were a few occasions where the winger saw some space and tried to cut inside, which showed that van Genechten is quite slow and has pretty low turning speed.
On the ball the 20-year old was quite composed. He didn’t get it that often, as Lierse barely tried to played it out the back and mostly just played long passes to Petrov, but van Genechten showed to have decent passing. He also played some long passes which were quite accurate.
Rating – B1
Sava Petrov
Player profile:
- Nationality: Serbian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 18/06/1998
- Current club: Lierse K. on loan from KVC Westerlo
- Career: Partizan Belgrado (Y), FK Teleoptik (L), FK Spartak Subotica, KVC Westerlo, Lierse K. (L)
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Sava Petrov played his first minutes for Lierse Kempenzonen against RWDM and played as the lone striker. Petrov served as the target man for Lierse K. holding up balls, but mainly chasing a lot of long balls trying to create some danger on the half of the visitors. It surely was a successful debut for the Serbian striker giving two assists as well as giving a small pass to Gilis in the 15th minute who caused a penalty. Petrov’s two assists showcased how calm he is on the ball and that he is very aware of his surroundings.
As I said Petrov had to chase a lot of long balls from Lierse’s defenders against RWDM and he did this quite well. Petrov isn’t the fastest striker, but had enough pace to get past his opponents multiple times. His opponents really struggled to get strong 6’2” attacker off the ball. Petrov used his body very well to protect the ball and won most of his offensive duels.
This technique didn’t look very special against RWDM. Petrov showed that he has a good first touch, but looked a little clumsy when dribbling. He made quite some heavy touches and tried to take on opponents at times when he really shouldn’t. Despite that his ball control maybe isn’t the best his dribbles were very effective as he completed eight out of ten attempted dribbles.
In front of goal Petrov really didn’t look clinical this game. He was very calm on the ball, but when he had the chance to score this seemed to fade away. In the first few minutes he had a one on one with RWDM’s goalkeeper, but this went to waste as he tried to get a penalty instead of taking a show with his left foot. In the last few minutes of the game Petrov had another huge opportunity to score, but his shooting here was very poor. After getting the ball back from the rebound he crossed the ball to Gilis at the far post, who volleyed in the 4-2.
Rating – B1
Sava Petrov can be happy with his first game for Lierse Kempenzonen. The Serbian striker clearly has some limitations, but is a good player at this level.