Substitutes help Anderlecht to a draw

GAMES Anderlecht seems to like to hold on to certainties in soccer lately. After the traditional defeat against Union and the failure to win against Gent, there was again no victory against OHL. It's been five games since the purple and white team won against Leuven. OHL climbed into the lead and Anderlecht equalized quite late through the young Duranville. But Leuven unexpectedly struck again after Diawara was asleep, but luckily Silva was able to save a point for Anderlecht that could only really threaten in the last half hour.
 


Anderlecht went forward, but still it was Leuven that threatened first. Tamari could kick, but his shot was too weak. Esposito tried to surprise on free kick and Silva headed wrong. While Anderlecht tried some, Leuven controlled and played more direct. Thorsteinsson popped up centrally after a long ball. The Icelander finished very controlled.

It took until half an hour before Anderlecht got another ball between the posts via Hoedt who tried his luck after a corner. Meanwhile it took a long time before the referee drew the first yellow card for OHL. Malinov in particular was given free rein, but for Diawara Lardot immediately drew yellow. Even though the referee lacked consistency, Anderlecht themselves played too transparent and too often backwards. Shortly before half-time, El Hadj threw for goal, but Silva could not deviate in goal. No improvement for Purple and White in the first half in which OHL almost finished at 100%.

Five minutes after halftime, Silva was able to head in a corner kick and moments later El Hadj went for his own success instead of playing Esposito. And yes, Malinov did end up in Lardot's book after all. In minute 54, Vertonghen made his debut in Purple and White employment, Ashimeru also appeared on the field. The home team kept trying, but without venom. Then try with the speed of young Duranville who replaced Murillo in minute 64'.

After Tamari had shot wide, an attempt by Duranville stumbled on Cojocaru. But moments later, the youngster did score with a clever place ball. But the euphoria did not last long. The experienced Diawara was sleeping like a rookie, which gave Tamari all the freedom he needed to take down Van Crombrugge. Anderlecht could start working again to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the league. A long attack ended up with Silva and the Portuguese shot Anderlecht back in the side. In the added time, Sadiki got away with a yellow card, but Anderlecht didn't have any real chances anymore.

Of course, a point does not help Anderlecht in the ranking, but it's still better than losing. And it certainly could have lost today, because it was only after half-time that some drive was shown in the again lame game of purple-white. The substitutes made a good turn and had the 1-2 not fallen, Anderlecht might have even gone up and over Leuven in that phase. Duranville's enthusiastic substitution made us hope for more. Even though his crosses didn't always arrive, they regularly resulted in a corner kick.

Anderlecht can now start against Silkeborg (against which it has to win to qualify for the next round) and after that against Westerlo. And the somewhat older fans of Purple and White know that this is not always Anderlecht's most favourite opponent.

Score: 2-2
Goal(s): 0-1 Thorsteinsson (18'), 1-1 Duranville (70'), 1-2 Tamari ('73), 2-2 Silva (84')

Anderlecht:Van Crombrugge, Debast, Hoedt, Delcroix (Vertonghen 54'), Murillo (Duranville 64'), Sadiki, Diawara (Ishaq 77'), Ait El Hadj (Ashimeru 56'), Refaelov (Kana 77'), Esposito, Silva
OHL:Cojocaru, Pletinckx, Ouedraogo, Patris, De Norre, Tamari, Malinov (Dom 72'), Maertens, Thorsteinsson (Vlietinck 80'), Mendyl, Gonzalez (Holzhauser 72')

Yellow: Diawara 43', Malinov 63', Silva 60', Sadiki 90+1'
Red:

Referee: Jonathan Lardot
Stadium: Lotto Park