Belgian First Division: Daum works magic, Mons on move

Club Brugge closed the gap on the top two in the Belgian First Division on Saturday thanks to their 1-0 win at Westerlo.

With leaders Anderlecht and second-placed Gent playing on Sunday, Club Brugge moved to within four points of the table toppers with the win, which came courtesy of an 88th-minute goal from Nigerian striker Joseph Akpala.

The win continued Club Brugge’s renaissance under new coach Christoph Daum, who now has four wins from four at the helm.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Mons climbed to seventh place after a thrilling 3-2 win at Sint-Truiden.

Jeremy Perbet gave the visitors the lead after 19 minutes and an own goal from Sint-Truiden midfielder Peter Delorge had Mons 2-0 up on the half-hour mark.

But the home side fought back after the break, and a 62nd-minute goal from Yannick Rymenants and an Alessandro Landoli strike three minutes later had things all square.

Perbet’s second goal with 15 minutes left was enough to wrap up full points for Mons, though, while Sint-Truiden remain mired in the relegation zone.

Kortrijk pulled level with fifth-placed Cercle Brugge on 27 points after defeating them 2-1 away from home.

Goals from Dalibor Veselinovic and Nebojsa Pavlovic put Kortrijk 2-0 up, with Igor Vetokele scoring a late consolation for Cercle Brugge.

An injury time equaliser from Flavio Amado helped Lierse secure a crucial point with a 2-2 draw at home to Mechelen, moving them three points clear of the bottom two.

And Lokeren played out a 1-1 draw at Zulte-Waregem, with Benjamin De Ceulaer’s goal for Lokeren two minutes after half-time cancelling out Jeremy Serwy’s opener for the hosts.