Belgian Women: Gantoise Stay Top, Léopold Still Can’t Buy a Point
No blowouts in Belgium on Sunday. Just the champions doing champion things, and a team at the bottom running out of road.
Gantoise did the minimum, and it was enough
Gantoise 1-0 Wellington. One goal, three points, top of the table defended. The defending champions haven’t been smashing teams this season — 15 goals in six games is tidy, not terrifying — but five wins from six is how titles get retained. Wellington made them work for it and stay stuck in mid-table on six points for their trouble.
The two sides chasing hardest both stayed unbeaten. Leuven won 1-0 away at Uccle Sport, a promoted side finding this level unforgiving, and Dragons drew 1-1 at Racing to stay on 14 points alongside Leuven, two and one point behind Gantoise respectively. Nobody’s blinking yet.
Sunday’s other results
Braxgata beat Léopold 3-1, which sounds unremarkable until you look at Léopold’s season: played six, lost six, no points, minus eleven goal difference. Somebody has to prop up a table, but six straight defeats in October turns a bad start into a relegation fight before winter even arrives.
Antwerp won 3-1 at Victory to climb to fourth, and Waterloo Ducks drew 1-1 with Beerschot in the day’s second stalemate.
Six rounds in, the shape of this league is clear. Three teams unbeaten or nearly so at the top, a squeezed middle where a draw does nobody any favours, and Léopold needing a win from somewhere, anywhere, before the gap becomes a cliff.
Results (Sun 18 Oct): Braxgata 3-1 Léopold, Gantoise 1-0 Wellington, Racing 1-1 Dragons, Uccle Sport 0-1 Leuven, Victory 1-3 Antwerp, Waterloo Ducks 1-1 Beerschot.
Top of the table: Gantoise 15, Dragons 14, Leuven 14, Antwerp 10. Bottom: Léopold 0.
