Milan Jovanovic's 78th minute strike, his 13th of the season, was enough to usher Standard Liege to a 1-0 victory over KV Mechelen on Saturday night.

With all three points in the bag, Standard now sits just 10 points away from wrapping up its first league title since the 1982/83 season.

For American defender Oguchi Onyewu, the game marked the second clean sheet this week, with the former Clemson Tiger having aided the USMNT in a 3-0 win in Poland on Wednesday.

For Standard manager Michel Preud'homme's men, the pressures of the pole position have begun to creep in, and the challenge of holding form in the final stretch has become of key importance.

Les Rouches started the brighter of the two sides, carving a dangerous opening in the sixth minute when Jovanovic found himself in space, but was dispelled just enough to tame his header.

The visitors countered right back at the other end, with the travel-weary Onyewu being troubled by an energetic Aloys Nong in the 13th minute. The two would tussle again nine minutes later, with the American sloppily ceding the ball to the Mechelen man before correcting his own mistake.

In the 23rd minute, the home side urged for a penalty after Réginal Goreux seemed to clear the ball with his arm following a KV corner, but all calls were dismissed, much to the dismay of the home support.

As the half wore on, Standard continued to press for an opening, catalyzing play through Igor De Camargo, but lacking the right finishing touch. The teams would as such head into the locker rooms at halftime, level at nil.

Kristof Imschoot was gifted a glorious chance to send Melechen top in the 52nd minute, but sent his swiped kick just wide, a moment that would prove costly 26 minutes later.

Jovanovic slotted a low and powerful drive past helplessly out-streched former Standard keeper Olivier Renard to claim a vital 1-0 lead with a little over ten minutes left ticking on the clock.

In the final moments, the visitors ground out the result with a solid display of possession play to ensure the nine-point lead at the top of the Jupiler League.

Next Sunday, Les Rouches play host to 11th placed Moeskroen.

Scoring
STD - Milan Jovanovic 13 78'

Line-ups
KVM - Olivier Renard; Anis Boussaidi, Jonas Ivens, Nana Asare, Maxim Biset (Pieter M'Bemba 70'), Kevin Geudens, Kristof Imschoot (Abdul-Yakuni Iddi 81'), Jeroen Mellemans, Koen Persoons, Aloys Nong, Bjorn Vleminckx

SL -  Rorys Aragon Espinoza; Marcos Camozzato, Dante Costa, Réginal Goreux, Oguchi Onyewu, Mohamed Sarr (Landry Mulemo 36'), Steven Defour (Siramana Dembele 84'), Marouane Fellaini, Axel Witsel, Igor De Camargo, Milan Jovanovic (Vittorio Villano 89')

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