Joseph Akpala stars in Oostende’s loss to Standard Liege

Joseph Akpala scored and assisted with another in Oostende’s 3-2 defeat to Standard Liege in Sunday’s Belgian First Division A outing.

The Nigeria striker continued from where he stopped last weekend where he netted against Gent to help Adnan Custovic’s men to a thrilling victory.

Akpala played a pivotal role as De Kustboys cruised to a comfortable lead before the break but a second-half fightback from the Reds saw the table turn.

Fernando Canesin Matos opened the scoring for the home team in the 27th minute with an assist from the former Werder Bremen man who doubled the lead in the 45th minute.

After the break, Renaud Emond started the comeback for the visitors, halving the deficit in the 50th minute’s effort off a Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez assist.

Moussa Djenepo then levelled proceedings 15 minutes later and Collins Fai netted the match-winning goal as Ricardo Sa Pinto’s men carted away with the maximum points.

Akpala featured for the entire duration of the game while his compatriot Uche Agbo played 15 minutes for the visitors after replacing Paul-Jose M'Poku.

The forward has now scored six goals in 27 league games this season and will be looking to continue with the form as 11th-placed Oostende aim for Championship play-off slot.