A rotated line-up resulted in a lacklustre attacking display on Sunday in the local derby. Niederkorn looked better prepared and controlled throughout the game, with only flashes of individual brilliance challenging the Wasps’ young talent João Margato in goal.
Besides fringe players being given a chance to impress, the usual core of the team was surprisingly shaky this time around. Leandro, one of the most gifted and complete players in the league, was outnumbered in midfield and struggled for the entire 90 minutes, Luxembourg international Kévin d’Anzico repeatedly lost his duels against compatriot Kenan Avdusinović; and Samir Hadji’s most dangerous opportunity was a failed lob from almost halfway out.
Progrès was combative and relentless, not shying away from running at the country’s most stubborn defence. Regardless, it was Differdange’s flying wing-back Dylan Lempereur who opened the scoring after the hour mark, with a powerful shot from over 25 yards out. His team were on course to snatch the three points against the run of play, until disaster struck: a well-drilled set-piece routine ended in an equaliser, as Florian Peugnet found an unmarked Flavjo Hoxha inside the box to slot home from close range.
FCD were thus about to see their advantage at the top of the table shrink to four points, after a dismal mid-week showing against Rodange, followed by a derby they struggled to control. But the worst was yet to come: a lengthy scrap unfolded in stoppage time after a Juan Bedouret foul. The ugly scenes went on for minutes, with the referee brandishing four yellow and three red cards afterwards.
Clayton Duarte, Bedouret, and substitute Artur Abreu were deemed to have been the main culprits, and were all duly expelled in the stop-start finale of the game. Momentum was lost and the final whistle went shortly after. Nine-men Differdange are still holding onto their “Invincibles” dreams with 10 wins and three draws across the season, but the chasing pack is slowly creeping up on them.
The biggest disadvantage now is navigating a tricky match-up against third-placed UNA Strassen without one of the pillars of defence (Bedouret) and an explosive attacker (Abreu). Keeping the famous Matheus-Nicolas Perez double act at bay will be crucial (11 goals and three assists for the former, eight goals for the latter), but Pedro Silva’s team will have to do so with a makeshift backline.
If Strassen take all three points in the next matchday, only one point will separate the top two. After two relatively one-sided BGL Ligue campaigns, it looks like the competition is as open as ever.
Matchday 14 brought a real goal glut in the National Division, as the eight games yielded 33 goals – an average of over four per 90 minutes. Only three teams failed to hit the net, and there were several resounding successes.
In terms of entertainment, however, F91 Dudelange vs Union Titus Pétange takes the cake. The hosts were already three goals up after the first quarter of an hour – courtesy of a stunning Mehdi Kirch free kick, a penalty by Bilal Benkhedim, and a shrewd link-up between Agostinho and Kino Delorge ending in a tap-in.
With one win in their last five games, Union have been in a downward spiral ever since the start of pre-season, with only temporary glimmers of hope keeping them in contention for survival, but the next defeat is never too far away.
But this collapse was unprecedented even by UTP’s standards. Their misery was compounded in the 22nd minute, when Evan Rotundo exploited a mistake from goalkeeper André Barrela, and scored into an empty net with a speculative effort. It looked like Stade Jos Nosbaum was set to host the biggest rout of the year.
In the end, F91 was content with their four-goal lead and let their opponents creep back into the game. In the first minute of the second half, Gustavo headed in a consolation goal. Dudelange restored the difference 10 minutes later, hitting Union when they were down. Quite literally, too: full-back Noé Vechviroon was lying on the ground injured, but referee Gilles Becker waved play on, and Ivan Englaro found the net, capitalising on the numerical advantage. Vechviroon had to be taken off later.
The rest of the game was a Gonçalo Ferreira show. Subbed on in the 62nd minute, he unleashed an impressive shot into the top corner less than a minute later, and grabbed his side’s third in the closing stages, by which point the match was practically a dead rubber.
In between his efforts, though, Isaque Gavioli pounced on a scramble after a corner to complete the scoreline and make it six different names on the scoresheet for Dudelange – the first time it happened in the division since September 2024, when F91 thrashed Fola Esch 6-1.
Mika Pinto’s team have now scored 34 goals, the joint-highest in the division, alongside newly-promoted Atert Bissen, who saw off Rodange on Sunday with a 3-0 win. Elsewhere, Käerjéng also netted three times to see off fellow newcomers Jeunesse Canach away from home.
At least two teams will definitely be regretting the timing of Luxembourgish football’s lengthy winter break. Racing Union Luxembourg and US Mondorf have had their ups and downs (in the former’s case, mostly downs) but have now started to click for the last games of 2025.
The Sky Blues have seen a managerial change, losing streaks and European setbacks, but their tortures continued. New head coach Sébastien Grandjean had to miss RFCUL’s latest clash against rock-bottom Mamer 32 due to an illness, and was replaced on the sidelines by his 31-year-old assistant, Delvin Skenderović. On top of that, the team fell behind seven minutes in, after a penalty was awarded for a clumsy handball, and was converted by seasoned veteran Mickaël Jager.
All the adversity did not faze the City’s players, though, as they put in an inspired performance to turn the game on its head and stroll to a 5-2 victory. Dominik Stolz was involved in four goals, netting and assisting twice each. Captain Farid Ikene is also hitting form at the best time: he contributed with a brace, including a brilliant direct free kick to complete the scoreline with 20 minutes to go.
Elsewhere, US Mondorf have replicated the same ambitious but ultimately inconsistent game they have shown in recent years: deadly at their best, but coming up just short of a European qualification spot. They are the only team without a draw in the BGL Ligue, mustering seven wins and six losses so far.
Despite it still being the first half of the season, they have already had a five-game winning run and a three-game losing streak. So often, the Angry Goats have found it tough to stop the rot. Now, things are on the up again: after progressing in the Luxembourgish Cup against Berdenia Berbourg, they now demolished Victoria Rosport by a 4-0 score.
It took over half an hour for USM to grow into the game and break down Rosport’s defence. The opener came somewhat out of the blue, as Ben Vogel scooped the ball into the wrong net while desperately trying to make a clearance. Mondorf doubled their lead before the end of the first half, from another counter-attack – this time, it was young attacker Chaaban Issaka who provided a deft finish after a Loris Tinelli through ball.
Yann Godart and Lilian Fournier added the finishing touches to an utterly dominant display. Mondorf were in complete control of proceedings in the second half, as Rosport failed to change their game plan to rescue a point once they had fallen behind.
These three points propelled USM to fifth place, above Niederkorn. A familiar pattern is resurfacing again: the best-of-the-rest title is theirs to take now, but they are still trailing the last international spot by six points – a deficit that might be unrealistic to bridge at this stage. If they can stay in their groove for December, and hit the ground running when the league resumes, though, they can have high hopes for 2026.
Atert Bissen continue to fly high in their first-ever top-tier season, and have now beaten Rodange 3-0 to jump to second place, albeit having played a game more than the chasing pack. Roman Ferber scored his tenth goal in ten appearances for Bissen, but captain Adriel and young forward Mamadi Djaló also joined in on the act to push their opponents to the brink of direct relegation.
US Hostert gained an important point against a Swift Hesper side in transformation, on a night when both sides were equally dangerous throughout. It still took a last-gasp equaliser for the Greens to earn a result in the end, with Kévin Quinol stealing the show and keeping his team outside the relegation play-off spots. Meanwhile, Hesper still find themselves in the top half after the first 13 games.
Saturday’s only match brought a rather dull, predictable Strassen victory at the Stade de la Frontière, with two goals to show for their dominance. Amine Zenadji exploited an individual mistake from Jeunesse Esch defender Mickaël Borger, prompting UNA to stay organised and control possession without much action for the remainder of the game. Benjamin Romeyns’ third goal of the season was the icing on the cake in the last seconds of the game, keeping Strassen joint-second.
Surprisingly, UN Käerjéng were the sharper team against Jeunesse Canach in the battle of the “newbies”, leaving with a deserved 3-1 victory that lifted them above the southwestern duo of Union Titus Pétange and Rodange 91 on the table. Luxembourg defender Lars Gerson scored his second goal in 2025/26 after a set piece, before Yannis Bellali and Idir Boutrif put the game to bed to overcome Canach’s second-half equaliser by Nicolau.
