Loss against Ghent

GAMES A mediocre Anderlecht lost 1-0.in Gent. In a balanced first half, Gent hit the post twice, but Purple and White played well. After half-time, Gent was better and scored a nice goal through Orban. Anderlecht got two more chances through Dreyer, but after a second yellow card for Diawara, the curtain fell definitively for the visitors. Anderlecht loses the top eight by the defeat and is already facing another crucial week. Next week's match against Cercle Brugge will determine whether Purple-White still has a chance at the Europe Play-Offs.
 


After barely half a minute, Orban was already testing the quality of Verbruggen's gloves. Anderlecht responded with a too wild shot by Amuzu. Gent was better in the early stages. Cuypers then kicked a breakaway shot against the post from long range. After fifteen minutes, Gent could not take advantage of a miscalculation by Verbruggen on a colliding ball. Anderlecht did get out from time to time. Ashimeru penetrated the penalty area and could have shot at goal instead of still putting the ball aside. In minute 20, Piatkowski had to clear a ball from Verschaeren off the line after Nardi had left his goal.

The ball changed sides quickly, but that was mainly due to a lot of ball loss by both teams. On the half-hour, Murillo did not find a teammate in front of goal. The match bogged down with more sloppiness. A poor pass from Debast led to Cuypers' second ball against the post just before halftime. A fairly balanced first half in which Gent did hit the post twice.

Just like in the first half, Orban quickly created the first danger. Amuzu broke out quickly, but only Slimani followed in front of goal. In minute 56' Gent suddenly opened the score. The quick Orban went deep and curled the ball unmistakably into the top corner. Gent pushed forward and Cuypers kicked centrally over. Despite Anderlecht struggling after halftime, Purple-White had two good chances through Dreyer. First, the Dane didn't hit a high-impact ball well, then Nardi was in the way on a time effort.

Fifteen minutes before time, the task became even more difficult for Purple-White. Diawara picked up his second yellow card after picking up a silly yellow earlier. Anderlecht still tried through Raman and Angulo, but Gent had everything under control. Fofana kicked wide just before regular playing time.

So again Anderlecht fails to win against Gent and has to leave a gap with the top eight. Against the better clubs in the league, this Anderlecht still can't win for now. The team with the highest ranking in the standings where Anderlecht could win against this season is Charleroi on place 9. Considering the difficult remaining program, next weekend's match against Cercle Brugge will probably be the last straw Anderlecht has to grab in order to still get into the top-8.

Score: 1-0
Goal(s): 1-0 Orban 56'

AA Gent: Nardi, Ngadeu, Piatkowski, Torunariga (Castro-Montes 46'), Kums, De Sart, Fortuna, Samoise (Fofana 72'), Hong (Odjidja 86'), Cuypers (Depoitre 72'), Orban
Anderlecht: Verbruggen, Murillo, Debast, Vertonghen, Sardella (N'Diaye 70'), Diawara, Ashimeru (Refaelov 70'), Verschaeren, Amuzu (Angulo 83'), Dreyer (Arnstad 78'), Slimani (Raman 78')

Yellow: Fortuna 45'+1, Verschaeren 52', Diawara 75' Angulo 90'+2
Red: Diawara 76' (2x yellow)

Referee: Lothar D'Hondt
Stadium: Ghelamco Arena