Ex-Tottenham hero Toby Alderweireld scores 94th thunderbolt to clinch title

Ex-Tottenham hero Toby Alderweireld stunned the Cegeka Arena on Sunday as he scored a thunderbolt effort in the 94th minute against Racing Genk to clinch the Belgian league title for Royal Antwerp. Alderweireld spent six years in north London between 2015 and 2021 and helped the club reach the Champions League final in 2019.

Alderweireld was born in Antwerp and joined his hometown club last summer following a year in Qatar with Al-Duhail SC. The centre-back has made 47 appearances for his current employers and has bagged seven goals. But none of his previous strikes have been quite as important as his goal on Sunday.

Antwerp, who finished the regular season in third position, went into the final championship round in second place, with Union Saint-Gilloise leading the way and Genk in third.

Alderweireld’s team fell behind in their showdown with Genk as Tolu Arokodare netted for the hosts on the stroke of half time. The visitors drew level just before the hour mark through Gyrano Kerk, before Bryan Heynen nudged the home side ahead once again with 15 minutes remaining.

Meanwhile, in the other key match of the day, Union SG hosted Club Brugge and took the lead through Simon Adingra. But Shion Homma equalised before Noa Lang and Cisse Sandra both found the back of the net in stoppage time to seal victory for Brugge.

If Genk had managed to hold onto their lead against Antwerp, they would have indeed been crowned champions. But Alderweireld had other ideas as he fought tooth and nail to take the title to his hometown.

And cometh the hour, cometh the man as Alderweireld proved that he was more than just a rock solid defender. With time appearing to escape from Antwerp at the end of their title decider, the Belgium international pushed forward and loitered on the edge of the box. And after being teed-up by right-back Jelle Bataille, Alderweireld proceeded to smash an unstoppable shot beyond home goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt and into the top corner of the net. The goal secured Antwerp a 2-2 draw and ensured they won the title for the first time in 66 years.

Alderweireld, who has won 127 caps for Belgium, has enjoyed quite the career at club and international level. But his title-winning exploits on Sunday could top all his previous achievements in the game. And following the final whistle the veteran said: “I have no words for this. Everyone wrote us off, we fought so hard for this. Everyone was against us but we did it today.”