Belgian First Division: Standard Liege 6 Charleroi 1

Standard Liege punished 10-man Sporting Charleroi 6-1 in the Belgian First Division with five goals in the opening 40 minutes on Friday.

Liege romped to a 6-1 win after Slovenian defender Elvedin Dzinic was given his marching orders in just the fourth minute.

The home side were in a less than forgiving mood and were led by Maor Buzaglo, who finished with a goal and set up two others.

Yoni Buyens slotted home from the penalty spot after Dzinic’s foul in the box and within two minutes Liege went 2-0 ahead through Will Vainqueur’s strike.

Buzaglo got on the scoresheet himself after 32 minutes and further strikes from Reginal Goreux and an own goal from Danijel Milicevic made it 5-0 at half-time.

Giuseppe Rossini pulled one back for a stunned Charleroi on the hour mark but Imoh Ezekiel completed the rout with Liege’s sixth five minutes later.

Liege move up to fourth place, two points behind second-placed Zulte-Waregem and eight behind leaders Anderlecht, while Charleroi are 13th.