Charleroi had less of the ball at Westerlo and still scored five

Charleroi won at Het Kuipje despite holding less of the ball than usual, and a late red card for KVC Westerlo only confirmed a result already settled.

Charleroi had 47% of the ball at Het Kuipje and still came away with a comfortable win. They were four goals clear with eighteen minutes to play, so the late drama belonged to a result that was already theirs. Diong was sent off for KVC Westerlo at 87 minutes, and A. Bojang converted a penalty for the visitors two minutes later. Before any of that, the question was why a side with less of the ball had been so much more dangerous.

Ball share is the simplest way to see who was on the front foot, and here it ran against the usual pattern. Westerlo had 53% of the ball, a little above their home average of 49.7%. Charleroi had 47%, well below the 57.6% they usually keep when they travel. Westerlo kept more of it than they normally do, yet it did not bring them the better chances.

The shots show where the difference lay. Charleroi took 20, well above the league average of 12.8 per side and their own away average of 15.9, while Westerlo managed eight against a home average of 13.7. Expected goals, a rough measure of how good each chance was, puts the visitors at 2.33, ahead of their away average of 1.68. Westerlo's 1.41 was close to their usual 1.33 at home, which means the home side did not create less than normal, but the visitors created far more. Nine of Charleroi's efforts were on target, which is why the home keeper ended up making five saves.

The goals followed the chances, though not evenly. Most of the damage came in one spell after the hour, from the 58th minute to the 72nd, when Charleroi scored four goals in fourteen minutes. Westerlo's only reply came at 74 minutes through Norman Bassette, against a home average of 2.6 goals. The home side conceded five, against their usual 2.4 at Het Kuipje. Charleroi's goals came from a side that normally scores 2.1 on the road, and they conceded only one, against 1.2 usually.

Aurélien Scheidler was the difference. He scored twice, set up Freddy Mbemba's goal, and had three shots on target out of three, which is why he finished with a rating of 9.3 out of ten, the highest mark on show. Patrick Pflücke and Mbemba also scored for Charleroi, and Mohamed Koné made two saves at the other end. Westerlo's best moments came from Botond Balogh, who won five duels in his 81 minutes, but the game was not decided by who won the most of them.

The table adds the context. Westerlo are ninth on 14 points from ten games, with four wins, two draws and four defeats. Charleroi are fourth on 24 points from the same number of games. Charleroi have won eight and lost two of their ten.

Player of the matchAurélien Scheidler2 goals · 1 assist9.3

Patrick Pflücke1 goal7.9

Freddy Mbemba1 goal · 1 assist7.9

Kevin Van Den Kerkhof1 chance created7.7