Anderlecht finally wins against Union, but loses Hazard

GAMES Anderlecht finally managed to win from Union. It became 2-1 after yet another incident-rich derby. Anderlecht struck early through Dolberg, but lost Hazard before halftime with what is believed to be a serious knee injury. Union, which had more ball possession, equalized after halftime through a penalty after VAR intervention. Debast was given two yellow cards. With a man down, Anderlecht continued to fight for what it was worth. Sardella reached Amuzu who gave Anderlecht the win. An important win for Purple and White, but obviously far from decisive because there are still many matches to play, matches in which Anderlecht will probably not be able to count on Hazard.


Both teams started very eager and nervous. At the first dangerous action, Anderlecht took the lead. Sardella teased Moris with a shot that the Luxembourger could not clip. Dolberg reacted quickest and pushed in goal after 11 minutes. Union played the ball around better and Anderlecht limited itself to the long ball. After 22 minutes, Union had its first opportunity. Puertas headed over from a difficult position.

Anderlecht then put together a nice attack, but Sardella just didn't get enough time to strike out. After a corner, Augustinsson had a shooting chance, but he was too angled in front of goal. Just before the half hour it was twice an alarm in front of Schmeichel's goal. Sardella was able to turn a dangerous header from Machida into a corner and then Schmeichel cleared a header from Nilsson out of goal. Not much later, the tall Swede was just unable to head towards goal.

In minute 37, Hazard left the field with a knee injury and a painful grimace. Waiting for the diagnosis, but after an initial checkup, it was feared the ligament was involved. Amuzu was his replacement. A few minutes later Dolberg was able to decide after a corner from the turn, but Sykes cleared the ball off the line. Puertas had another great chance in added time, but possibly the ball had gone outside the lines earlier.

After halftime, Union provided the first danger. Schmeichel broke well wide to stop an attempt by Puertas. Stroeykens led Purple-White's first good attack after halftime. However, VAR felt the time had come to steal the show. On the hour, Nilsson went down when he got Debast's elbow to the nose in the penalty area. There was definitely contact, but was it voluntary? VAR watched the phase and Lambrechts pointed to the spot. Puertas scored the equalizer. Moreover, Debast got his second yellow (his first was for a stupid handball before halftime) and so Anderlecht could continue with ten. Where was VAR before halftime when both Leoni and Vertonghen were fouled during a corner? Burgess then pulled Leoni over and Vertonghen got an elbow from Nilsson to the head.

But despite the VAR show, Anderlecht climbed back into the lead. Sardella, after a hesitation at Union, took a fine long ball from Vertonghen well and reached Amuzu who scored. In minute 80, Anderlecht had some luck when Terho slid halfway over the ball. Six minutes of extra time were counted in which they struggled rather than played football. Anderlecht held on and recorded an important win, the first since 2018 against Union.

Anderlecht is now in the lead, but in the Champions playoffs, the tide can quickly turn. Anderlecht plays next Saturday in Genk.

Score: 2-1
Goal(s): 1-0 Dolberg (11'), 1-1 Puertas pen (66'), 2-1 Amuzu (75')

Anderlecht: Schmeichel, Sardella, Debast, Vertonghen, Augustinsson, Rits, Leoni, Stroeykens (Gattoni 67'), Dreyer (Delaney 67'), Dolberg (Vazquez 82'), Hazard (Amuzu 37').
Union:Moris, Sykes, Burgess, Machida, Castro-Montes, Vanhoutte, Teklab (Terho 74'), Sadiki Lazare 74'), Puertas, Amoura (Eckert Ayensa 81'), Nilsson (Rodriguez 81')

Geel: Puertas 25', Debast 28', Leoni 48', Rits 56', Debast 60', Terho 84', Machida (90'+5).
Rood: Debast 66' (2x Geel)

Right back: Erik Lambrechts
Stadium: Lotto Park

Source: © Internal source