KVC Westerlo produced a disciplined and purposeful performance on Sunday evening, securing a 2-0 victory against a blunt OH Leuven at Het Kuipje. The win, sealed by goals from Nacho Ferri and substitute Adedire Mebude, lifts Westerlo to mid-table security and leaves Leuven searching for solutions after another stuttering offensive display.

The tone was established early on as both sides, fielding contrasting formations—Westerlo in a structured 4-2-3-1, Leuven deploying a 3-4-3—tested each other’s defensive organization in the opening quarter hour. The midfield battle was tight, with both teams largely even in possession (Westerlo finished with 52 percent to Leuven’s 48), but it was the hosts who asserted themselves with greater attacking intent.

The breakthrough came in the 19th minute. Westerlo’s young Spanish forward, Nacho Ferri, capitalized on a lapse in Leuven’s back line. A sequence beginning with Isa Sakamoto’s measured distribution and Bryan Reynolds’s overlapping surge down the right ultimately found Nacho in space. Demonstrating composure beyond his years, the striker rounded goalkeeper Tobe Leysen and slotted the ball home, giving Westerlo a deserved early lead.

Leuven, already without fluency in the final third, struggled to muster a response. Their forward trio, spearheaded by Sory Kaba and flanked by Casper Terho and Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi, found few avenues past the Westerlo back four, marshaled ably by Seiji Kimura and Tuur Rommens. The visitors completed just 192 passes with an 81 percent accuracy, a testament to Westerlo’s pressing and spatial discipline. Leuven managed just four shots all game, three of which were on target, but none truly troubled Andreas Jungdal in the Westerlo goal.

The visitors’ frustration mounted and was evident in the 26th minute, when Noë Dussenne was booked for a cynical challenge, emblematic of Leuven’s increasingly ragged approach. Coach David Hubert made a pair of substitutions after halftime—perhaps hoping to spark some life into his side—but Westerlo continued to dictate the rhythm, spurred by the inventive Josimar Alcócer and the industrious Doğucan Haspolat in midfield.

As the contest ticked toward its final phase, Westerlo’s advantage never appeared truly under threat. Leuven pressed forward in search of an equalizer but were repeatedly forced into errors and stray passes by Westerlo’s disciplined shape. With 13 minutes remaining, coach Issame Charaï’s substitutions paid immediate dividends. Adedire Mebude, only on the pitch a handful of minutes, latched onto a well-weighted through ball from Bryan Reynolds and fired low past Leysen in the 77th minute, doubling the hosts' margin and effectively ending Leuven’s hopes.

The closing stages descended into a scrappy affair, with yellow cards produced for Alcócer and, deep in stoppage time, for both Kyan Vaesen and Takahiro Akimoto as tempers flared. Westerlo, though, held their nerve, closing out the match with professionalism.

Statistically, Westerlo’s advantage was clear. The hosts recorded 10 shots to Leuven’s four, forced three saves from Leysen, and earned five corners as opposed to Leuven’s two. Westerlo’s pass completion rate was slightly crisper at 84 percent, reflecting their measured approach in possession. Leuven, for all their endeavor, found themselves repeatedly stifled, limited to speculative efforts and suffering from an inability to progress the ball through midfield.

The victory marks a significant boost for Westerlo, both in terms of table position and confidence. The performances of Nacho Ferri and Bryan Reynolds, in particular, provided evidence of an attack beginning to coalesce, while the defense demonstrated the compactness required to see out narrow leads. For Leuven, the defeat continues a worrying trend of profligacy in front of goal and a lack of cohesion in attack—a challenge that Coach Hubert must address with urgency if his side is to arrest their slide.

Both teams now turn their attention to the next round of fixtures, but it is Westerlo who will do so with renewed belief, their campaign now firmly back on track after a clinical and composed home triumph.