Matchday 22 review

The Easter bank holiday meant an unorthodox scheduling pattern of the BGL Ligue games in the last weekend of March, with the games having to be played on Saturday afternoon to accommodate the two-day national holiday.

The spotlight was arguably on the two teams taking to the Stade de la Frontière from 4 p.m., in one of those matches that truly had everything 90 minutes of football can offer: an own goal, a screamer, a clever chip from halfway out, a disallowed goal, and finally, four goals in the last twelve minutes!

At what was a nervy and fairly unspectacular affair in Esch-sur-Alzette, A Jeunesse corner deflected in off FCD centre-back Théo Brusco into his own net with 34 minutes on the clock, which put the hosts in the driving seat for the rest of the game.

Differdange's defenders continued to be in the centre of attention, as Argentinian left wing-back Lucas Pruzzo surprised his opponents with a thunderbolt of a hit early in the second half. All of the team's other goals were also by defending players, as Brusco headed past Andrea Amodio twice (although only completing his redemption arc after the second one, after the first had been ruled out for a perceived foul on the goalkeeper). Kevin D'Anzico made it three for FCD's prolific backline on the day in stoppage time after a corner kick, but it was to little avail, having badly struggled with their own duty to prevent Jeunesse from creating dangerous chances all throughout the game.

This incredibly resilient showing from the Eschers owed much to two of the main protagonists of the afternoon in João Teixeira and Armando Mendes Jr (yet again). Creative playmaker Teixeira dared to be selfish instead of setting up his teammates this time, as he spotted a golden opportunity, catching opposition goalkeeper Romain Ruffier standing near the penalty spot, and pinning a lofted ball from the halfway line straight into the back of the net.

Mendes Jr was finding it harder than usual to leave his mark on the proceedings, starting somewhat slowly and regularly experiencing difficulties attempting to bypass FCD's five-man defence. But if there's one thing we have learnt from the Black-and-Whites' latest resurgence, it is that a Mendes goal is inevitable. He himself seemed to be just as certain in that, too, and the dam broke just when it was most needed.

Two very similar build-ups yielded Mendes two chances to run at the defenders at full pace, and a player as deadly as he is will need little more motivation to score. His two strikes tipped the balance in Jeunesse's favour after the final whistle, and it is hard to think of a team organised enough to be able to beat the new in-form team of the Grand Duchy.

Käerjéng: the team that gets the job done 

Although hardly turning heads with their style of play (or performances for that matter), results are sometimes on UN Käerjéng's side this season. Not always, as you won't often see them steal points from title contenders or solid mid-table teams, but whenever they face a beatable opponent… they go out and beat them!

The last 10 games Franck Rinaldo's crew played included a draw away at Wiltz 71 (13th), a win against Fola Esch (16th), another three points hosting Mondorf (10th), and in their last two games, two consecutive 1-0 victories against both newly-promoted teams, Marisca Mersch (12th) and Schifflange (15th). The fact they held out for a 2-2 draw against F91 Dudelange is merely icing on the cake.

In light of the opponents they have beaten, it isn't the most impressive list of scalps you will see. However, it is precisely what makes their achievement all the more admirable: they will do just enough to preserve their National Division status for 2024/25 by beating all the unfancied, lower-ranked, struggling opponents without missing. That in itself is sufficient for survival in most seasons.

Taking a glance at how Käerjéng's (now 11th) relegation rivals are coping with the run-in, most of them simply do not look capable of ruffling bigger teams' feathers when the stakes are at their highest. Therefore, these head-to-head clashes between one another (often referenced to as “six-pointers” for a reason) are by far the most watertight way of steering clear from the bottom four places at the final countdown.

Perhaps unluckily for UNK, most of the beatable opponents are out of their way for the remainder of the league season. They are yet to face five of the top eight sides in the division, while also facing trips to Fola in Esch and Mondercange in the final matchups.

Taking three points at those two “wreck-fests” might be essential in their quest to stay up, but in the meantime, all they have to focus on is sustaining their recent encouraging run of form, hoping that Noah Scheidweiler (the goalkeeper of the season so far) stays fit and the attack can put one more goal in the net than they concede.

Fola still closing that gap 

Although the aforementioned Scheidweiler is an undeniable contender for the 'Young Footballer of the Year' title in the BGL Ligue, another youngster chasing such acclaims is Fola's attacking midfielder Tim Flick.

The slick Flick contributed to Fola's shock win in Rosport with a brace on Saturday. The game perfectly symbolises how Fola Esch's attack starts and ends with him: after an opener in the eighth minute from a breathtaking direct free kick, he was the one scoring the last-gasp decider in the fifth minute of added time, arriving perfectly for a Jules Diallo cross.

The 18-year old spent the last two years at Eintracht Frankfurt's academy, in elite facilities, under elite coaching. The improvement is unquestionable. It would be highly surprising if this man (or boy, really) stayed at his club past the summer transfer window.  Whether a move materialises or not has much to do with exactly which league Fola will be playing in next season. Currently in the last place of the BGL Ligue, the gap to safety is only three points, while they are only two points away from a relegation play-off spot. With eight games to go, and the squad finally clicking into gear, it is hardly an insurmountable task.

Could a comeback again be on the cards after 2022/23's fairytale story? There is every chance for that. The well-known banking theory of being “too big to fail” feels like it can be applied to football sometimes, with Fola the perfect case in point. Even though their squad is so young, the manager inexperienced, the board situation perilous and the transfer market resembling the constant movements through a revolving door, this club might just ultimately be too big to get relegated.

Just like last year, they are once again making a great escape, bridging the majority of their gap towards the rest of the pack. Whenever they are facing adversity or put under scrutiny, it is almost as if some outer power prevents them from failing. They always have that one extra goal, that one necessary point, those last touches to apply to an attack to dodge enough bullets to stay alive in the end.

What we are seeing once again is not only testament to Flick's role as the leading face in their latest battle, but also to all the other young players, the whole staff, and most certainly the fans who didn't stop turning up when the results started turning sour in 2022.

Despite the worst goal difference and the most inconsistent performance in the league, nobody would bet a penny against Fola somehow clinching that last spot above the relegation zone.

Around the pitches

Progrès Niederkorn found it hard to break up Wiltz’s dogged defending structure, but the floodgates opened in the second half as the Wasps cruised to a 3-0 victory. Walid Jarmouni scored his 11th goal of the season from a penalty, while his team are closing in on Swift Hesper in 3rd place. Wiltz are in a relegation play-off position, extending their winless streak to 10 games, going back to 12 November.

An own goal saved F91 Dudelange as they managed to swing themselves right back into the title race with a chaotic 4-3 win over Strassen. Samir Hadji’s brace puts the Moroccan only two goals off top spot in the scoring charts, while last season’s Hesper Reserves striker Florik Shala also scored two goals for the opponents. Although Strassen came up just short, they remain in mid-table safety while F91 jumped up to second place.

Mondorf bounced back after head coach Manuel Correia’s resignation with an emphatic 4-1 dismantling of Marisca Mersch. Marisca found it extremely hard to cope with the absences of Joel Rodrigues and Benny Bresch, their two leading goalscorers this season. As a result of the defeat, they find themselves on the bring of relegation, while Mondorf gained some breathing space with their stellar performance.

Hesperange unexpectedly stumbled against a Mondercange side who once again showed how effective their defending can be when the whole game plan is built on it. Ivorian attacker Yoane Lasme salvaged one point for the reigning champions who are looking extremely unlikely to defend their title after this latest setback. Mondercange, on the other hand, crawled out of the automatic relegation spots with this draw, overtaking Schifflange.

A 10-man Racing Union tore Union Titus pétange into pieces with a confident 3-0 victory. After an early red card to striker Andreas Buch, the guests showed little hesitation roaming forward vehemently, and it proved effective. While both teams have now almost certainly avoided relegation, they can still attempt to finish above one another, as both are situated in the top half after 22 matches.

As always, the games' live commentaries, highlights and full video footage are all available on RTL.lu's Live Arena hub.