Standard beat Beveren 3-0 on Friday night. Three goals from Dennis Eckert Ayensa. The first in the fourth minute, the other two in the second half, one of them a penalty.
Sporza says he waited 404 matches for his first hat-trick. Four hundred and four. That’s long. That’s honest.
I read that on Monday at the chip shop, in my weekly, checking that the score hadn’t moved. It hadn’t moved.
What stopped me is what came next. He barely celebrated. Barely. He stayed sober in front of the DAZN microphone. To Sporza, he said: “This is not the most beautiful evening of my football career, but of course I’m pleased with my very first hat-trick.”
And this, again to Sporza: Standard had 1 point from 15 before this match, so it was not the time to celebrate much. He will celebrate more exuberantly when the team wins more often.
In 1980, we raised an arm, and that was already a lot. I thought that school had closed. It has one pupil. I’m not criticising. I’m comparing, and for once the comparison holds.
I shouted for him, so that’s done. That’s historic, really. Well, not bad.
He was named man of the match. He left with the match ball. Three goals, one ball, and barely any celebration. Note that I’m not against joy. I’m against joy repeated in the weights room.
It is Standard’s first league win since 5 September, against Antwerp. Two months. The next match is in two weeks, at Lommel.
Well. It’s the times, and sometimes they behave themselves.
It’s true, we checked: Sporza · Voetbal.
