Club NXT U23 has not been able to add onto its great string of victories of the recent weeks. In a mediocre first half with only few chances, no goals were scored. K. Beerschot VA took the lead in the second half through a Guendouz penalty kick. Wylin made it all square after a quickly taken free kick, but the final word was for Beerschot's Wright-Phillips (2-1).
After Club's U19s caused quite the upset in ousting AS Monaco U19 in the UEFA Youth League, a number of young players started on the bench. Lynnt Audoor started again in the starting lineup. At K. Beerschot VA, Nick Shinton, ex-Club Brugge, was in goal. A slow pace helped the two teams to a hesitant start. A first attempt by Audoor went wide, while on the other side of the pitch Van Eenoo's shot knew the same fate. Fifteen minutes in, Buifrahi passed it to Van Britsom who quickly sent the ball in the direction of Lund Jensen, but our Dane was unable to take it in his stride on his way to what would have been a great chance to take the lead. Beerschot assaulted through a lot of corner kicks, but the hosts' defense held firm. On the half-hour, Shinton pawed away a blast from Van Britsom into a corner kick. Soon after, another fine chance came to Lund Jensen to open the scoring, but it didn't work out. With Club NXT U23 unable to make the most of some fine chances, and Beerschot hardly capable of doing anything in return, a logical 0-0 was the score at half-time.
A more driven Beerschot came out of the locker room, looking for a quick lead as our goalie saved a Guendouz close range shot, which proved to be the start of a true test to Club NXT U23's defense. Fortunately, a free kick was headed wide by Van den Eynden, and Club's goalkeeper got rid of a dangerous ball from Van Eenoo. The visitors gradually took over as Van Acker popped it over upon a Van Britsom cross. Moments later, Lund Jensen was put in the perfect position by Koren, but he aimed the ball straight at goalkeeper Shinton. Better luck for the hosts then, who saw the referee point towards the spot as Vula went down after light contact with Audoor, Guendouz eagerly kicking the ball into the bottom left corner just out of the reach of Argus (1-0). Club NXT U23 continued to look for the equaliser, which followed soon after, as a quickly taken free kick by Lund Jensen came to captain Wylin tapping in the equalizer. Hoping to piggy-back the hosts, Club went looking for the winner, but a scrimmage in front of the Club goal mound ended up with Wright-Phillips, making it 2-1. Club NXT U23 then tried in vain to find the equalizer: first Musuayi found goalkeeper Shinton on his way, and in the final seconds of the game, a Koren shot went wide, ending the tie. On Friday, a home match awaits 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: 25' Verlinden, 62' Audoor, 69' Shinton.
Referee: Mr. Dunken Van de Velde.
Venue: Het Kiel, Antwerp.