Antonio scores in historic Pro League winCup

Former Dynamos striker Bill Antonio rose from the bench to net his first goal in the Belgian Pro League and hand his side KV mechelen their first win away at K.A.A. Gent in 12 years on Friday night.

mechelen opened the scoring through Daam Wonnebald Foulon after 26 minutes before Julien De Sart restored parity on the hour mark and Antonio who replaced Foulon in the 75th minute scored the winner seven minutes before fulltime as the club completed a 2 – 1 victory.

Substitute Yonas malede provided the assist, threading the ball in the path of Antonio, who scored the crucial goal in mechelen’s first match after the winter break.

The defeat was Gent’s first at home in the league this season as they occupy third place on the log standings after 21 matches.

After the historic win, mechelen also moved into ninth place with 25 points from 21 matches leapfrogging Liege, who were in action last night.

Interestingly the speedy striker was playing in a wingback position on the right against Gent after replacing defender Foulon and managed to hurt their much fancied opponents.

It was the 21yearold Zimbabwean’s fifth appearance for the mechelen senior team this season while he has featured 13 times from the second team and has scored five times.

Antonio moved to Belgium in September 2022 from Dynamos for an undisclosed fee and has been part of the second team for most of stay in Belgium.

on Friday, Antonio was making his fourth consecutive appearance in the senior team for mechelen and managed to cap it with a goal which will go a long way in helping cement his position in the side.