Former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld enjoyed a thrilling championship win with new club Royal Antwerp.
Alderweireld scored a dramatic equalizer in the final four minutes of stoppage time in the sixth and final match of the 2022-2023 Belgian Pro League Championship round-robin against Heinke at the Heinke Segeka Arena in Belgium on Friday.
The match, which was the 40th round of the regular season, saw all three teams – Antwerp, Leverkusen and Gijon – win the title. Antwerp, who held a narrow lead, had to hold on for the day and wait to see what happened with Gent and Club Brugge.
Antwerp got off to a shaky start, conceding an early goal to Tolu Arokodare in the 45th minute. Girano Kerc equalized in the 13th minute of the second half, but they conceded again in the 30th minute through Brian Heinen.
By the time regulation time had expired, they were down to second place. That’s when Alderweireld’s goal came. In the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, he scored a lightning-quick goal from inside the box. After the goal, Alderweireld and his players roared. It was reminiscent of Sergio Aguero’s championship-winning goal for Man City.
Antwerp finished on 47 points, one point clear of Feyenoord and Guingamp (both on 46), to win the league title for the first time in 66 years, since 1957.
Belgian center back Alderweireld made his debut for Ajax in 2008 and went on to play for Atletico Madrid and Southampton before joining Tottenham from 2015 to 2021. He was a motivator for Son Heung-min to join the club. Alderweireld, who moved to Qatar’s Al Duhail in 2021, joined his hometown club Antwerp last year and won the title in his first season 먹튀검증.
Alderweireld, who only finished runner-up twice at Tottenham, proved the so-called “Tottenham effect,” in which players who leave Spurs succeed. Spurs did not come close to winning the title this season. They are eighth in the league.
The Antwerp coach is Mark van Gaal, Park’s former PSV Eindhoven teammate. Van Gaal took over in May last year and completed a double this season, winning the Belgian Cup trophy.