Runar Alex Runarsson was named Man of the Match by local media in Belgium after his second league start for Oud-Heverlee Leuven.

Runar Alex Runarsson with OH Leuven (Photo via Leuven on Twitter)
Runar Alex Runarsson with OH Leuven (Photo via Leuven on Twitter)

It took a while for Arsenal loanee Runar Alex Runarsson to break into the OH Leuven team after going on loan at the end of the summer window, but he seems to be winning a regular starting spot at the moment.

Initially, Runarsson had to wait until October 27th for his first Leuven start in a cup game. Then he had to wait another month for his first league start.

The good news is that two further starts followed, and he’s now coming off the back of three consecutive appearances in all competitions.

It’s been a bit of a baptism of fire in the league. Runarsson made his debut against league leaders Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, before facing fourth-placed Gent this weekend.

Yet it’s going pretty well. Leuven pulled off a shock 3-1 win over Union SG, and Belgian outlet Sporza named Runarsson their Man of the Match against Gent.

Sporza point out that Runarsson “had no chance” with Gent’s only goal of the game, a looping deflected effort.

But after that “he played an excellent match”, making seven saves, and completing 32 of 37 passes including 11 of 15 long balls.

Runar Alex Runarsson with Iceland (Photo via Runarsson on Instagram)
Runar Alex Runarsson with Iceland (Photo via Runarsson on Instagram)

Voetbal Krant users also rate Runarsson’s performance highly, with the goalkeeper sitting at 8/10 at the time of writing, the highest rating on the team.

It seems unlikely Runarsson drops back to the bench after a game like that. As long as he keeps impressing, he’ll likely keep playing.