CL: Galatasaray beaten, third place secured!

THURSDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2014, 00:41 - Skyhawk
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Anderlecht reached the knock-out phase of the Europa League by beating Galatasaray. Therefore, the Mauves are certain of the third place in their Champions League group. The second place is unreachable after Arsenal's victory.


Anderlecht showed a different face than against Charleroi. The Mauves immediately created a bunch of chances: Mitrovic' header went over and a few minutes later the Serbian striker even missed the ball being all alone in front of keeper Muslera. Galatasaray couldn't do much against it. Only on free kicks they created some danger. And the Turks were lucky when a deviated ball hit both posts before ending up in Muslera's hands again. A bit before the end of the first half, the goal finally fell. Praet headed the ball to Mbemba and he scored the opening goal.


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Defour was not completely fit again and stayed inside during the break. And Anderlecht had to recover from that loss. Galatasaray took control over the match and forced Proto to make several safes. But the Belgian champions slowly restored the balance again and escaped without conceding the equaliser. Though the fans in the Vanden Stock Stadium held their breath when Yilmaz hit the crossbar. This was the sign for Anderlecht to start attacking again. Mitrovic headed the ball right into Muslera's arms and Conte, alone in front of the keeper, missed incomprehensibly.

The frustrations with the visitors rose to a peak though. Half of the team had been booked and the unevitable red card fell about ten minutes before the end. Selçuk Inan was sent off. Not much later Kljestan, who had replaced Praet, took a free kick. Muslera could not keep ahold of the ball and Mbemba doubled the lead. The victory had been secured and Anderlecht will also play European football in January.