Anderlecht to the group stage after penalty kicks!

GAMES Anderlecht has qualified for the group stage of the Conference League. After a nerve-racking evening, it defeated Young Boys Bern after penalty kicks. It was 3-1 from eleven meters. Hoedt, Sadiki and Esposito scored for the purple and white.


Anderlecht took the initiative from the start. It often had the ball, combined well at times, but this didn't lead to big chances. Only after fifteen minutes Verschaeren had his first shot on goal. Although he had quite a bit of space, the ball whizzed meters wide. Young Boys did not get to Van Crombrugge and did not shy away from hard duels. Just past the halfway mark of the first period, the visitors took the lead against the run of play. Elia flashed past Amuzu and Delcroix on his right wing. Hoedt was just too late and Elia kicked the ball past Van Crombrugge, who was stunned, into goal: 0-1. A cold shower for Anderlecht.

The purple and white responded through Silva. After a free kick by Refaelov, he turned cleverly, but his shot went a meter or two wide. A bit later, Amuzu kicked over and wide. There was more to come. The biggest chance fell on the other side. Debast was surprised by a corner kick, but Nsame's header went just over. On the stroke of half time the referee left a punch by Zesinger on Hoedt unpunished. That could easily have been a penalty kick, but there was no VAR to intervene. 0-1 at half-time and virtually on their way to extra time.

Anderlecht came out of the dressing room with Esposito and a lot of enthusiasm. Silva immediately asserted himself, but had no success. A bit later, it was Amuzu who caused a disturbance in the visiting defence with a good action, but a Swiss player stuck his foot out just in time. A little later, purple and white escaped when Itten headed over a corner kick and Young Boys should have always given Camara his second yellow. The fact that Camara swept Silva's effort off the line from the ensuing free kick made it all the more unfortunate. Young Boys coach Wicky understood the danger and pulled Camara to the sidelines himself.

After the triple change by Young Boys, the match became more balanced. Anderlecht threatened via a free kick from Hoedt, but it was only in the final minutes that the chances increased. Van Crombrugge got away with a bad kick, and on the other side Esposito's goal was rightly flagged for offside. A clever and convincing finish, by the way. Raman was unlucky again when his header landed straight on Von Ballmoos' chest. On to the extra time.

In extra time it soon became clear that Refaelov's and Amuzu's were tired. Esposito for his part grew into the match. He worked very hard and tried to get his team in tow; as Silva often did in past matches. The purple and white tried, but there were no really good chances in the first extra time. On the other side, Rieder kicked a free kick on the roof of the goal.

In the second extra time Anderlecht kept on searching for the decisive goal. Raman came very close, but he kicked hard against the post. Not much later, there was nobody to kick a good cross from Murillo into the goal. In the final minutes Stroeykens headed too softly into the hands of Von Ballmoos and Van Crombrugge saved a free kick by Rider. So the time-taking Swiss, helped by the underperforming referee Boiko, got what they came for: penalty kicks.
 
From eleven meters Stroeykens missed first, but afterwards first Van Crombrugge and then the post saved. Lustenberger kicked over and Anderlecht kept on going!

Score: 0-1
Goal(s): 27' Elia (0-1)

Penalty kicks: Hoedt (1-0), Rieder (1-1), Stroeykens (miss), Rrudhani (miss), Sadiki (2-1), Imeri (miss), Esposito (3-1), Lustenberger (miss)


Anderlecht:Van Crombrugge, Debast, Hoedt, Delcroix, Murillo, Kana (80' Olsson), Arnstad (46' Esposito), Verschaeren (80' Stroeykens), Amuzu (104' Sadiki), Refaelov (104' Ishaq), Silva (89' Raman)
Young Boys Bern:Von Ballmoos, Rüegg (64' Blum), Camara (64' Lustenberger), Zesiger, Garcia (76' Benito), Elia, Niasse, Rieder, Ugrinic (64' Ngamaleu), Nsame (90+3' Rrudhani), Itten (114' Imeri)

Yellow: 40' Camara, 69' Garcia, 80' Silva, 97' Lustenberger, 120+2' Olsson, 120+3' Hoedt
Red: /

Referee: Serhiy Boiko (Ukr)
Stadium: Lotto Park