Guaranteed to finish in the top 4, and therefore to play the Champions playoffs, the Great Old opened the scoring on the return from the locker room via Michel-Ange Balikwisha (1-0, 48th), served by the Swiss Michael Frey. The Cercle equalized at the start of the last quarter of an hour thanks to Ahoueke Denkey (1-1, 76th).
The match started with a tribute to Miguel Van Damme, the goalkeeper of Cercle Brugge who recently died of leukaemia. Marc Overmars, new Antwerp sports director, was present in the stands.
In the standings, Antwerp is 3rd with 63 points but might see RSC Anderlecht pass them in the event of a victory in Kortrijk on Sunday. The Cercle will finish in 10th place with 45 points and will not play in the European playoffs.