Standard stumble, fans get aggressive

Things ran out of hand at Standard de Liège on Thursday, after the club only managed a draw against Sporting Lokeren in the Play-off 1 competition. Standard came back from a 0-2 deficit, but stranded at 2-2. Angry Standard fans forced their way into the mixed zone, to utter threats towards Israeli coach Guy Luzon.

The point was just enough to keep Standard in pole-position, after 4 of 10 days of play in the round-robin competition with the best 6 teams in the Belgian football league.

It was Tunisian striker Hamdi Harbaoui giving Cup winners Lokeren a surprise 0-2 lead at Sclessin, that was packed with a crowd of over 26,000. In the final quarter of the match, Standard wiped out a possible shock defeat through top scorer Michy Batshuayi and Geoffrey Mujangi Bia. Standard only managed to win 2 of their last 8 matches, and had to swallow at least 2 goals in their last 3 games. This is causing unrest among the most ardent fans.

After Club Brugge's win against KRC Genk (2-0) and Anderlecht's result (0-0 against Zulte Waregem), Standard retain the lead, but only just. Standard (39 points) have 3 teams on their heels: Club Brugge (38), Zulte Waregem (37) and Anderlecht (36). Lokeren (28) and Genk (25) are further behind.

Things run out of hand

A small fraction of Standard fans voiced their anger and frustration immediately after the match, forcing their way into the mixed zone where journalists meet players. They demanded that Standard coach Guy Luzon be sacked, and anti-semitism chants could be heard.

VRT and RTBF camera crew were intimidated but nobody got injured. Eventually, stewards managed to mediate and convinced the hooligans to return. The fans covered their heads, but this was too late as their faces were clearly visible on CCTV footage earlier on.

Top stories