Belgian First Division: Kortrijk 2 Standard Liege 1

A controversial offside goal helped Kortrijk to a 2-1 win over Standard Liege in the Belgian First Division on Friday.

Kortrijk have lost just once at home this season and they benefitted from a fortunate opener to continue their impressive form with a win over fourth-placed Liege at the Guldensporenstadion.

M’Boye Ilombe was clearly in an offside position when he turned in the opener on 42 minutes, but there was no flag from the assistant as he beat Srdjan Blazic and the goal stood, despite the furious protests of the Liege players.

Frustration mounted for the visitors in the second half as they struggled in vain to produce an equaliser.

Ilombe missed a chance to put the result beyond doubt, before Daniel Opare paid the price for Liege’s mounting indiscipline.

The Ghana defender received two yellow cards in the space of 12 minutes to make an early exit midway through the half.

Down to 10 men, Liege renewed their assault on the Kortrijk goal with abandon, leaving space at the back for Guiseppe Rossini to exploit on the counter.

The substitute missed a golden opportunity one-on-one with Blazic, but made no mistake minutes later, slotting home to give Kortrijk a 2-0 lead.

Axel Witsel pulled one back for Liege in the 94th minute, but it proved too late to salvage a point.

Liege remain fourth, but they can be overtaken by Lokeren, who play host to Cercle Brugge on Saturday.

Kortrijk stay seventh, but now have a four-point buffer ahead of Mechelen.