GAMES Anderlecht deservedly won against Beerschot with 4-2. Before half-time, little happened except for the penalty which gave Anderlecht the lead. After the break, the purple and white team extended the lead, but Beerschot managed to keep the tension in the match.
Before the break, Anderlecht had problems with Beerschot for a long time. After one minute Raman already missed a chance on a Gomez pass, but it was called offside. Anderlecht had the ball possession, but as often, not enough was done with it. Kouamé tried a few times and was the only one before half time to really hit the target around the half hour mark. Vanhamel, however, was on the ball. Raman also tried a few times, but his attempts ended up next to and over the goal. Beerschot hardly threatened, but Kompany could not be satisfied with the performance. But on the stroke of half time Ait El Hadj's supporting leg was mown down and Dierick pointed to the penalty spot. No VAR was involved and Gomez took the lead. Was the spell now broken by Anderlecht's third consecutive penalty goal?
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Continue reading With Beerschot behind, they had no choice but to leave their hedgehog position and it became an open game. Anderlecht, meanwhile, were looking for a second goal. On corner it was Raman who headed the home team to 2-0 via a deviation on Shankland's head. Anderlecht however shot themselves in the foot again. After a corner, the same Shankland was able to immediately appease with a placed header.
Anderlecht had to roll up their sleeves again. In minute 64, Raman just headed wide after Cullen had conquered the ball, but it was the active Kouamé who, five minutes later, gave Anderlecht a bigger lead with a low shot. Kompany brought on three fresh forces as the final quarter of an hour went by. Ashimeru and Zirkzee, two of those substitutes, combined nicely. The Ghanaian midfielder immediately made it 4-1.
Yet the match was not over yet. Holzhauser got all the freedom to serve Dom, who beat Van Crombrugge. Beerschot did everything in their power to bring about a miraculous comeback and in the final stages Magallan was brought off the bench to provide more security. It remained at 4-2 though, as Anderlecht couldn't profit from the space left by Beerschot either.
Of course, the three points are deserved and more than welcome after a four out of twelve, but defensively it all seemed very poor after half-time. Reason enough for Kompany to brush up on a few things, starting with Wednesday's cup game at La Louvière. Ashimeru for instance is a nice footballer, but not in the crucial place of Olsson where he loses the ball too much and dangerously.
