Biondic and Rodriguez rescue Union after poor first half against Dender

In their final home match of the regular season, Union faced Dender, who sit at the bottom of the standings. Expectations were high: could the Brussels side extend their impressive unbeaten run at home? They had also scored at least once in every home match during that run.

Union took control of the game from the start but failed to create real danger. Guilherme and Biondic came closest, but none of their attempts were on target. Dender waited patiently and tried to catch Union on the counterattack. From a corner, Mbamba managed to head toward goal, but Scherpen was well positioned and kept a clean sheet.

Both teams continued to look for openings for the remainder of the first half, but without success. Union needed to come out stronger after the break to secure their position at the top of the table.

The second half began with a surprise: Kjell Scherpen stayed in the dressing room and Vic Chambaere replaced him. Dender came flying out of the blocks and Burgess had to block a dangerous shot by throwing his body in front of the ball. Union only became truly threatening for the first time in the 49th minute.

After that, the ball moved quickly from end to end. Khalaili switched play to the opposite side. Guilherme tried his luck from a tight angle, but the Brazilian was denied by goalkeeper Gallon.

Union gradually grew in confidence. Ait El Hadj found the net first, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Five minutes later, the Brussels side finally took the lead. Van de Perre started the move and Zeneli stormed toward goal. His shot hit the post, but Biondic reacted quickly to fire the rebound high into the net: 1-0.

The breakthrough lifted Union and Guilherme threatened again after winning the ball back. Substitute Rodriguez had just returned to the pitch after his injury and was eager to make an impact. Sykes headed the ball toward goal, but the Dender goalkeeper pushed it away. Rodriguez reacted quickest and finished the rebound to make it 2-0.

With the win against Dender, Union takes a major step toward the regular-season title. Next week, they face Sint-Truiden.