Samatta goal not enough to save Royal Antwerp from Belgian Cup elimination twitter facebook reddit twitter facebook reddit

Tanzania captain Mbwana Samatta was on target for his team Royal Antwerp but could not prevent them from losing 2-1 to KVC Westerlo in the Belgian Cup Round of 16.

The hosts had come into the match as underdogs owing to their status in Belgian football and despite leading the 1B Pro League, they were not expected to cause much trouble to the experienced top-tier opponents who have many experienced players on their books.

However, the second-tier leaders made their intentions clear after just 32 minutes. Slovakia international Jan Bernat managed to find Thomas van den Keybus in the danger zone, and the 20-year-old did not hesitate to find the back of the net.

The Great Old reacted by increasing their tempo hoping to get an equalizer.

But it was De Kemphanen who doubled their advantage in the 43rd minute when South Africa international Lyle Foster capitalised on poor marking and hesitation to score and ensure the team went into the break with a 2-0 advantage.

Antwerp made changes after the half-time interval, introducing Michael Frey in place of Pieter Gerkens and Sam Vines, who took Dorian Dessoleil's position.

Manuel Benson and Abdoulaye Seck were also introduced later on in place of Johannes Eggestein and Bjorn Engels.

But they were not going to have it easy against their hosts who also brought on Kyan Vaesen, Oguz Guctekin and Fernando Goure in their bid to maintain their lead.

The Tanzania skipper managed to get on the end of a loose ball in the danger zone with 15 minutes to go. However, it was the only goal the visitors scored as they were eliminated from the annual competition.

The 28-year-old Samatta has been at the club since the start of the campaign, on a season-long loan from Fenerbahce.

The next assignment will now be on the league where they will be away to Cercle Brugge KSV.

Antwerp are in third place on the table with 21 points from 12 matches while their next opponents are in 17th with nine points from the same number of games.