Matchday 24 review

The 24^th round of games proved to be the undoing of Jeunesse Esch and their impressive unbeaten streak. After eight wins and a draw to start off 2024 with a mad dash from 15^th to 5^th on the table, their purple patch has ended at the hands of UNA Strassen.

A double from forward Bruno Correia Mendes ensured Jeunesse would not be able to keep all three points at home, and a red card from Emmanuel Lapierre in the closing stages all but eliminated any chance of an equaliser even after Adrien Kack got one back for his team via a header from close range.

Jeunesse are still in fifth place and ambitions of finishing any higher than that were never truly realistic. But with a packed top half and lots of uncertainty lower down the table, they still have to pay full attention to all their remaining games if they are to maintain their first Top 5 finish in the last five years. Meanwhile, Strassen are situated in mid-table, five points adrift from their latest opponents.

© Val Wagner

Leaky newbies in danger

Although the label ‘newly-promoted’ is debatable for teams to have been playing in a competition for more than half a year, Schifflange and Marisca Mersch are in fact the newest members of the BGL Ligue. And lately, unfortunately they do play as such.

Four goals each conceded against Differdange and Dudelange leave both of them just outside the automatic relegation zone. Schifflange are only above 15^th-placed Fola Esch on goal difference, while Marisca themselves are only one point better off with six games to go.

There are mitigating factors: They played two of the biggest teams in the league – both historically and on current form – and were never really expected to take away a point, let alone three, from these match-ups.

Another positive is Marisca forward Benny Bresch’s return to form. After an injury kept the marksman out for the last few weeks, he was back in the starting eleven last week, but struggled on his return. This time around he flourished, scoring a brace against F91 to get his team firmly back into the game, before a late winner deep in stoppage time eventually earned Dudelange the three points.

The 3-4 loss can feel extremely painful and to be regretted given Wiltz 71 only managed a draw against then-bottom-of-the-table Fola Esch, meaning a win would have steered the Merschois clear from relegation waters. Schifflange, on the other hand, look deep in trouble after managing only a solitary win in their first ten outings in the calendar year.

Losing by four goals is arguably worse than their fans’ expectation at a time when every goal matters in the confrontation with Fola and Mondercange at the foot of the table. After a summer transfer window that brought experienced stars such as Mehdi Kirch or Kévin Nakache, followed by the arrival of Morocco international Nabil Dirar in February, nobody would have predicted them to sink this deep after the break.

Now in the two relegation play-off spots, both newcomers might find out there are indeed two teams performing worse than them in the current field, but after 24 matches, both have their National Division 2024/25 hopes hanging by a thread - and mainly by their own faults.

Fola not bottom anymore

For the first time since Matchday 7 (played on 24 September), Fola Esch’s name isn’t the last to appear on a BGL Ligue table.

Their hard-fought draw against Wiltz 71 (seeing out a missed penalty and a plethora of shots conceded in the first half) has earned the Eschers a place above Mondercange on goal difference, as FCM lost 2-1 in Rosport.

Stefano Bensi’s team has struggled with all sorts of problems that could happen to a football club in the past two seasons: financial mismanagement, losing key players, declining fan support, long-term injuries, managerial crises (which ended with Bensi retiring from his playing career to take over as head coach immediately) and a weakened squad, without any genuine chance of staying up.

Yet, last year, they made the great escape. A much-improved points haul in the second half of the season got them out of the drop zone with perfect timing, and a similarly dramatic comeback win against Jeunesse Canach in the play-off meant they would renew their top-tier membership coming into 2023/24.

Everything seemed lost again after the first half of this campaign, when Fola had 11 points from their first 15 matches. Their form picked up slightly from the resumption of the league, but they admittedly had a mountain to climb in order to achieve survival. Here they are now, 15^th after 24 games, two points away from total safety.

According to football website Transfermarkt, no club has escaped relegation from rock bottom after 23 matchday since records began counting in 2006 (the only exception being the COVID-affected 2020/21 year, when Etzella Ettelbrück finished second-bottom but the league decided against promotions and relegations).

Fola’s success was built on some traits completely uncharacteristic of any typical young team: resilience, perseverance, a warrior mentality and patience in picking their moments to attack. Fola do get outplayed by most opponents over the course of the 90 minutes, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to being outscored, thanks to the dogged defending and dangerous counter-attacks they can compensate with.

Bensi and his staff could already be nominated for a place in Manager of the Season discussions in May, but if Fola do end up staying up again after all the adversity they have faced, it will be nothing short of a miracle.

Spectacular goals… and own goals

If the hero of the week for a neutral fan might be Eldin Rastoder of Racing Union Luxembourg, the anti-hero of the Rosport faithful will have been defender Dāvis Sprūds.

Rastoder scored a late consolation goal for Racing in their away showing at Progrès Niederkorn. His volley on the drop halved his team’s deficit in the 89^th minute, setting the final 2-1 scoreline with a thunderbolt from outside the box which comfortably stands out as the hit of the week.

The 21-year old Montenegrin winger received the ball from Delvin Skenderović, laid it up for a volley and finished it by himself. Although RFCUL left the venue without a point to show for their efforts, Rastoder’s second BGL Ligue goal of his career will certainly be a fond memory for many supporters about this encounter.

Meanwhile in Rosport, the hosts ended up scoring thrice in the same goal in their 2-1 victory against Mondercange.

A first-half advantage of two goals was established early on through goals from André Redekop and Adham El Idrissi, while FCM missed a penalty at 1-0, which looks especially costly in hindsight.

In the 70^th minute, former Latvia youth international defender Sprūds became the third name to appear on the scoresheet – except on the wrong side. A harmless looking Mondercange cross was met by the defender, who headed skilfully above his own goalkeeper, his chipped attempt ultimately ending up in his own net.

Sprūds, who has returned from an unlucky spell at Swift Hesper this January, had been an instrumental part of Rosport’s defence in their push for the team’s highest league finish since 2006. This own goal was also merely a moment of bad luck, and it luckily came at a point where it caused little threat to Victoria’s chances of winning, and they did indeed prevail eventually.

In a strange way, it could be described as something of a perfect own goal: funny and remarkable enough to raise eyebrows and spark conversations, coming from a player and a team enjoying a strong enough form to not let one misstep affect their confidence too heavily.

© Val Wagner

Around the pitches

Swift Hesperange conceded twice to US Mondorf in the second half to set up the most surprising result of the day. A well-taken corner and a penalty gave Mondorf a platform to overcome one of the giants of the Grand Duchy, and they did manage to hold onto their advantage until Yoane Lasme’s header – also coming from a corner – 17 minutes before the end. The Angry Goats saw out the remainder of the game, earning a crucial 3 points to stay well away from all relegation troubles. Their loss sees Hesper drop to third place on the table, level on points with fourth-placed Niederkorn.

Ousmane Baldé opened the scoring at a heated derby between Union Titus Pétange and UN Käerjéng from the penalty spot. Later in the first half, the former PSG and Getafe midfielder got a red card to his name, joined on the sidelines by Union wing-back Jérémy Mawatu, who also had to leave the pitch after a second yellow card on 73 minutes. The equaliser came from Demba Seck shortly after, to keep Union in 7^th place, and Käerjéng in 11^th, three points above the play-offs.

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