Anderlecht eliminated from the Cup

GAMES Anderlecht got eliminated in the semi finals of the Belgian Cup against Racing Genk. The Mauves lost at home with 1-2 . That way, the best opportunity to win European football next year, is gone. The Mauves will now have to focus on taking the fourth place in the league.

Anderlecht started with Cobbaut and Sardella in the defence to replace the injured Delcroix and Murillo. Anderlecht had already beaten Genk twice this season. Both times, the Mauves had played with one striker to create a numeric advantage on the midfield, but coach Kompany took a different approach this time and started with two strikers. Kompany also dropped El Hadj in the team as a winger on the right side.

The match was more or less in balance for the first 15 minutes with Genk creating more danger. After 17 minutes of play, loss of ball possession proved deadly for Anderlecht. Onuachu scored the opening goal and Miazga nor Wellenreuther were able to stop him from doing so. Earlier, Onuachu had already missed two excellent opportunities.

It took a while before Anderlecht could react. The midfield couldn't control the match, but late in the first half, El Hadj had two good chances. He appeared alone in front of the keeper but he lifted the ball over the goal. Later, he forced the visiting goalie to make an excellent save. 

Not long after the second half had started, Genk dealt the decisive blow: a center from the left was deviated by Miazga into his own goal: 0-2. Kompany reacted and brought Trebel, Mykhaylichenko and Bruun Larsen into play. After 72 minutes, Lucumi pushed Nmecha, broken through, down. A red card was the logical consequence. Trebel scored from the resulting free kick: 1-2. With 11 against 10 and still 20 minutes to play, everything was still possible. But even with one men down, Genk easily held off any modest Anderlecht offensive. Only Mykhaylichenko came close to equalising: he came in sliding on a good center, but was just too late to push the ball against the net. Final score: 1-2.