Substitutes lead Anderlecht to 3-0

GAMES Anderlecht won with 3-0 against Paide Linnameeskond, but it needed the qualities of substitutes Silva and Refaelov to do so. Before halftime, Purple-White was uninspired on the pitch, but it showed a different face after Silva and Refaelov's substitutions. The Portuguese scored quickly and then it was twice Murillo who scored.


The times when Anderlecht regularly outplayed its first European opponents, belong to the past. But can we still expect something more than this display before half-time? Okay, the 0-2 in Estonia gave Anderlecht the chance to take it easy, but the players took it a bit too literally. It took until minute 41 before Anderlecht had its first chance against Paide. Esposito shot over and a bit later Aksalu saved the 1-0, again on a shot by Esposito. In the added time, Amuzu also shot high over.

Furthermore, poverty was the order of the day in the first half. Anderlecht played very sloppy and couldn't create a single chance before minute 41. Nevertheless, there were a few players at kick-off who could show themselves to Mazzu. The Estonians smelled their chance on stagnant moments and Trebel had to save a header on the line, although it was not clear if the ball had really landed inside the goal. Delcroix also had to intervene a bit later to block a shot.

After halftime, there was no visible improvement. Just before the hour, Refaelov, Stroeykens and Silva were called upon. Less than three minutes later, Silva got the ball from Refaelov and Anderlecht immediately went up 1-0. Purple and white finally seemed to wake up because of this injection of quality. Refaelov took a nice shot, but Sardella was unlucky not to hit the rebound really well. After the drinks break, Silva took a hard shot and then calmly served Murillo who doubled the score. Paide could not follow the Purple and White's acceleration and three minutes later Murillo scored again after being served by Silva and Olsson. The Panamanian almost scored a pure hat-trick, but Aksalu saved his escape shot. Anderlecht kept on combining well and still ended this European match in a satisfying way.

Anderlecht will play the play-offs against Young Boys Bern and it's clear that against the Swiss they won't be able to afford jokes like we saw before half-time. This Anderlecht now seems to be hugely dependent on Silva and Refaelov for creativity and goals early in the season.

Score: 3-0
Goal(s): 1-0 Silva (61'), 2-0 Murillo (71'), 3-0 Murillo (74')

Anderlecht:Van Crombrugge, Sardella, Hoedt, Delcroix, Murillo, Trebel (Arnstad 77'), Olsson, Ashimeru (Fabio Silva 58'), Amuzu (Ishaq 72'), Raman (Stroeykens 58'), Esposito (Refaelov 58').
Paide Linnameeskond :Aksalu, Frolov, Yusif, Klavan, Saliste, Mööl (Darboe 78'), D. Celidor Simon, Saag (Palumets 27'), R. Saarma (Tambedou 58'), Piht (Singhateh 58'), Luts (Ojamaa 76')

Yellow:
Red:

Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili
Stadium: Lotto Park