GAMES Anderlecht slipped considerably with a sour 2-3 defeat against Dender. It started very weak and was soon behind. Purple-White got better into the game and after half an hour it had scored twice itself through Verschaeren and Dreyer. But after halftime Anderlecht, with a substituted Hazard, dropped away completely and Dender punished the lax and too self-confident attitude of Purple-White in the closing stages. Anderlecht only had a few chances after that, but they could not avoid the painful defeat. Purple-White urgently needs to recover in January.
A very expensive loss of points for Anderlecht which not only sees Genk and Bruges further away, but also Union and Antwerp approaching. And with some difficult matches ahead, Anderlecht had better look down again at the moment. The difference with number 9 (Dender) is finally barely six points. The short winter break is more than welcome to give the newly recovered players some more time. Hopefully work will also be done on some reinforcements. Anderlecht starts 2025 with the cup game at Beerschot, followed by a home game against Club Brugge.
Continue reading below the article
Continue reading Anderlecht started the game particularly lax which resulted in the 0-1 in minute 9 through a nice goal by Kvet. Dender remained dangerous and got a few shooting chances afterwards. Anderlecht played very difficult soccer, but suddenly Verschaeren equalized after twenty minutes, also with a nice shot from distance.
After the equalizer, Anderlecht started to take more control of the game. Whenever it could play Dender out of context, it created danger under the impulse of a good Verschaeren. Dreyer was regularly found in the center and the Dane got several chances, one of which culminated in the 2-1 on the half hour. After that, Edozie and Rits also came close to a third goal.
Still, Anderlecht started the second half very moderately, allowing Dender to get back into the game and threaten a few times. Just after the half hour, Hazard (surprisingly quickly) and Sardella came on for Verschaeren and Engwanda. For Hazard it was the first playing minutes since his injury in April.
Purple and White, meanwhile, continued to play very weak and far too confidently after halftime as if nothing could happen to them. They escaped the equalizer several times until Scheidler scored the 2-2 in minute 78 after the defense was easily outplayed for the umpteenth time.
Anderlecht then responded anyway a quarter of an hour before time through Dreyer and Dolberg, but it was Dender that struck the death blow. Ball loss in midfield allowed Nsimba to make a run for it. Rits forgot to take yellow and the striker placed the ball neatly into the far corner in goal after Simic was cut out. Anderlecht got no further than an offside goal by Dolberg.
Anderlecht urgently needs to recover after the winter break, because in the current league everything is very close to each other except Bruges and Genk. Moreover, in January, two cup matches (if Anderlecht can eliminate Beerschot) and the last two pool matches in the Europa League will soon be waiting.
