Double Gameweek round-up

Game of the Week #22-23:

Only two of the three players returning to the club from international duty by Wednesday for the game against Fola Esch, F91 Dudelange still had reasons to be optimistic about the game to be played. Dejvid Sinani was part of the Luxembourg camp for two European Championship qualifiers but did not make an appearance, while right-back Sylvio Ouassiero was already in a condition to play after a little more than a week spent in Madagascar, representing his homeland in the African Cup of Nations Qualifier stage.

Stefano Bensi’s Fola Esch were surely looking to expose any sense of fragility of tiredness in the title-chasing team’s schedules, as the Eschers have built a strong reputation on being a tough and resilient team to play against. The former Luxembourg attacker’s methods needed time to fall into place with an arguably weak squad, but over the months Fola have been straying ever further from the image of shocking defeats and stinging embarrassments on a weekly basis to be seen in the autumn. Results are accompanying the revival, too, as the shadow of relegation is now not a direct threat for the 2020/21 champions.

Fola had started the international break after a narrow 1-0 loss to leaders Swift Hesperange, in no small part thanks to an enormous contribution from goalkeeper Emmanuel Cabral to keep it a close scoreline. Over the break, though, Cabral has fallen ill and substitution goalkeeper Evan Da Costa deputised for him. Unluckily for the young talent, F91 are an unforgiving opponent to play. Within 3 minutes, they scored two goals, and although the first was disallowed, the second did officially open the scoring for João Magno and his team.

Even in a lead and with the game in their hands, the hosts did not relent. Neutrals would be forgiven for fearing for Fola after a painfully one-sided first half, where F91 scored their second disallowed goal of the day and kept carrying out direct, quick attacks over their opponents’ backline repeatedly.

The second half started with a revitalised Dudelange attack, in full flow again just like the early stages of the game. It paid off: Magno made it a brace from himself with a powerful shot from a perfect scoring position, being completely unmarked in the box after an assist from captain Mehdi Kirch.

The ebb and flow of the game was somewhat disrupted on the hour mark when one of the few Fola counters did succeed and Jules Diallo managed to outrun the opposition defence. 43-year old iconic goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert tried to save the situation by rushing out of his goal but was dribbled past, prompting his teammate Vincent Decker to shove Diallo and thus inevitably give away a penalty. The striker put it away with ease and the gap was back to one goal.

It looked as though the penalty had a positive effect on Fola’s team, who started looking slightly more lively in search of an equaliser, while Dudelange kept getting their own chances but without any end product to show for. The 353 supporters were given an exciting last 15 minutes by the teams at Stade Jos Nosbaum, but with the last Fola chance missed, the referee blew the whistle after 95 minutes, F91 taking the three points and Fola once again leaving the pitch frustrated at the chance of getting so close to pulling off a marquee result against a true powerhouse.

Player of the Week #22-23:

Since a double gameweek brought twice as many games, we are presented with quite a few options to pick from.

Dominik Stolz of Swift Hesper stole the show in Gameweek 23, scoring four(!) goals past FC Differdange to win the game for his team alone. The German now has 20 goals and 12 assists in only 23 games, as a midfielder, which speaks volumes about his consistency even above the age of 30.

Kévin Quinol arrived to Fola Esch as an unknown free signing from the French regional leagues in the winter but managed to make a name for himself quickly, scoring a brace in his first game, followed up by useful contributions in his next appearances. Now he has doubled his tally from three to six goals over the weekend in a crucial relegation six-pointer against Käerjéng. Quinol completed the hat-trick in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give his side the lead and gain a five-point advantage over the 14^th-placed visitors.

Progrès Niedercorn’s young French striker Elias Filet scored four times over the two games, just like Stolz: first contributing to Hostert’s 6-0 rout by chipping in with half the goals, and then quickly equalising on Sunday against Racing Union Luxembourg in the second half, before Yannick Bastos scored Progrès’ winner. Sochaux loanee Filet has been in unrelenting form recently and finds himself on the third place of the top scorers’ chart and his team in a 12-game unbeaten streak (11 win and a solitary draw) since a narrow loss to Europe-chasing rivals Union Titus Pétange in early November.

Goal of the Week #22-23:

The last game of the week between Käerjéng and Etzella Ettelbrück brought an unbelievable and maybe unprecedented end to our gameweek. Etzella were already two goals up in the 93^rd minute, when Till Hermandung, their midfielder, played a through ball behind the opponents’ backline.

The German had two options to choose from and he sent the ball about halfway between Frederick Kyereh (positioned offside) and Stefan Monteiro (onside) into space. Unfortunately, Kyereh was close enough to affect the play according to the linesman – or maybe not? Although the assistant did raise his flag when it looked like Kyereh was going to control the ball, but as Monteiro quickly recognised the situation and took the matter in his own hands, the flag went back down. Obviously, the signalling was confusing enough for Käerjéng’s defenders to stop tracking backwards, allowing Monteiro to get inside the box, square the ball to the arriving Sven Kalisa at the far post, who scored his first goal in the season in the most mindblowing circumstances imaginable.

The defenders did try arguing with the referee for the goal to get disallowed, but no action was taken. Käerjéng are above the relegation places by a single point, and goal differences will hold crucial importance in such a tight race for survival.

Storyline of the Week #22-23:

Don’t always sack the manager. Not every club’s fortunes can magically be overturned by a sudden change at the helm and no new manager becomes a revolutionary hero in the club’s history books. There are tenures that go under the radar, or ones that result in disaster. One of the most uncomfortable scenarios for the owners can be sacking a manager as a panic move looking for an upsurge in results, only to see that the team really are just continuing to perform at the same level even after the radical shift.

Lately, we have seen a couple of the BGL Ligue’s newest caretaker and permanent managerial appointments, and the picture has not exactly been convincing.

Henri Bossi, Hostert’s new boss returned to the club of his heart from his illustrious job as Swift Hesper’s sporting director. Under his management in a month, Hostert have managed one draw and three losses – including a 6-0 thrashing against Niedercorn. They are yet to win a game in 2023 and this form will surely not be enough to get out of the automatic relegation zone while most of the others are improving.

Käerjéng appointed 66-year old Manuel Peixoto in a desperate attempt to end their slump and register the club’s first win since October. Over the double fixtures, his team lost to Fola in dramatic fashion before falling to a particularly concerning 0-3 defeat against rock-bottom Etzella Ettelbrück. Käerjéng, alongside Hostert, are in the worst form of all teams looking at the last five games, getting only one point each.

Etzella Ettelbrück’s caretaker Bruno Alves was the third youngest manager in BGL Ligue’s history when he made his debut against Progrès Niedercorn back in November. Since then, his contract was made permanent, but his stint has been far from an overwhelming success: the only wins have been against Hostert and Käerjéng and although the 2-2 draw against Hesperange was a heroic achievement, they are still in last place and running out of time. One of the historic teams of the country is on the brink of relegation again after suffering the same fate in 2016.

Differdange caretaker Hélder Dias’ journey at the helm has been a bit more mixed. Two wins from four games is a respectable return from an interim coach at a middling club, but the two defeats could understandably have left FCD’s passionate ultras disappointed. Two consecutive 0-4 defeats against Dudelange and Hesperange now show their situation in a lot bleaker light, and although they are not in danger in relegation for the season, it is nevertheless a disappointing collapse from the team that finished on the podium last season and was only a good quarter an hour away from progressing in the UEFA Conference League too, losing their tie to Olimpija Ljubljana in extra time back last summer.