Club NXT U23 could not add another victory to its success series of recent weeks. In a mediocre first half with few goal chances, no goals were scored. K. Beerschot VA took the lead in the second half with a penalty kick by Guendouz. Wylin balanced the boards after a quickly taken free kick. But the home team pulled the three-peat at the end through Wright-Phillips.
Some of the players who won the memorable victory against AS Monaco U19 in the UEFA Youth League started on the bench. Lynnt Audoor started again in the starting lineup. At K. Beerschot VA, Nick Shinton, ex-Club Brugge, was in goal. Both teams started the match a bit hesitant. The pace was relatively slow. Audoor tried to kick at goal first. His ball went wide. At Beerschot, a shot by Van Eenoo also went wide. After almost a quarter of an hour Buifrahi passed to Van Britsom who quickly sent the ball in the direction of Lund Jensen. Our Dane couldn't take it well and away was a great chance to take the lead. Beerschot versed a lot of corner kicks, but the Blue-Black defense held firm. On the half-hour, Shinton pushed a blast from Van Britsom into a corner kick. Soon after, Lund Jensen had a great opportunity to open the score, but he could not work. Club NXT U23 could not finish the few big chances. Beerschot could hardly do anything in return. Argus easily grabbed a free kick from the home team. We went to rest with the glasses score on the scoreboard.
Beerschot came out of the locker room driven and looking for a quick lead. Our goalie saved on a shot by Guendouz from close range. The Kiel Rats put Club NXT U23 under pressure. Fortunately, they headed a free kick through Van den Eynden wide. And our goalkeeper then boxed away a dangerous ball from Van Eenoo. Blauw-Zwart gradually took over the game from the home team. Van Acker popped the ball over, on a cross from Van Britsom. Along with Buifrahi, the striker was replaced by Koren and Musuayi. Lund Jensen was then put in perfect position by Koren, but he popped right at goalkeeper Shinton. Beerschot had better luck. The referee whistled for a penalty kick when the leather failed to clear from the sixteen and Vula went down after light contact with Audoor. Guendouz kicked the ball into the bottom left corner just out of the reach of Argus. Club NXT U23 continued to quietly look for its goal thereafter. That soon fell after a quickly taken free kick by Lund Jensen. Captain Wylin surprised and tapped in the equalizer. Protest at Beerschot, but the signs hung in balance. Blauw-Zwart went in search of the lead, but the ball unfortunately went in on the opposite side after a lot of fumbling in the small sixteen. Wright-Phillips was able to tap the ball in. Club NXT U23 tried in vain afterwards to net the equalizer. First Musuayi found goalkeeper Shinton in his way. In the final seconds of the match, a shot by Koren went wide, ending the tie. Next Friday's match awaits at home against Patro Eisden.
Club NXT U23: Argus, Siebe Wylin, Wout Verlinden, Samuel Gomez Van Hoogen, Alexander Vandeperre, Lynnt Audoor (77' Laurens Goemaere), Lucas Delorge (77' Alejandro Granados), Tobias Lund Jensen (85' Jessi Da Silva), Thibaut Van Acker, Rayan Buifrahi (55' Tian Nai Koren), Jakke Van Britsom (55' Yanis Musuayi). Bench: Stefan Ostojci, Andre Garcia, Naïm Amengai, Sacha Marloye. Coach: Jonas De Roeck.
K. Beerschot VA: Nick Shinton, Colin Dagba, Bas Van den Eynden, Brian Plat, Edisson Jordanov, Henki Garaguchi, Jonas Van Eenoo, Ken Masui (66' Rajiv Van la Parra), Glenn Claes (88' Dennis Gyamfi), Sabri Guendouz (74' D'Margio Wright-Phillips), Arnold Vula (88' Axl Van Himbeeck). Bench: Xavier Gies, Emre Uzun, Andres Labie, Ryan Sanusi, Derrick Tsimanga, Nilton Varela. Coach: Mo Messoudi.
Goals: 64' Guendouz 1-0 (pen), 69' Wylin 1-1, 78' Wright-Phillips 2-1.
Yellow cards: 25' Verlinden, 62' Audoor, 69' Shinton.
Referee: Dunken Van de Velde.
Stadium: Het Kiel, Antwerp.