GAMES No European stunt for Anderlecht. Winning wasn't possible against Fenerbahçe tonight either, but purple and white can leave Europe with their heads held high. It showed grinta and resilience, although the match was marred by irregularities in the stands.
The match had a dramatic start for Anderlecht. After barely four minutes, Hey played the ball in too slackly toward Coosemans. Dzeko picked up and shot En-Nesyri the 0-1. The fact that in the Anderlecht sections Turkish fans were also cheering caused disturbances and the referee stopped the match.
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Continue reading After about twenty minutes, the game resumed. The break clearly did Anderlecht good, because they came out of the locker room with a lot of energy and renewed courage. On the other side, the Fenerbahçe goalkeeper also fouled under pressure from Vazquez and the Argentine equalized. Vazquez could (should?) also have been awarded a penalty kick shortly before when he was pushed over with both hands.
Without creating many big chances, Anderlecht kept putting high pressure and playing the ball around well. A nice attack via Hazard, Huerta and Hazard again reached Vazquez, who scored his second of the evening. Could it still be possible? For a moment there was hope, but eight minutes later it disappeared when Yusuf headed the equalizer after a corner kick.
After this equalizer, Vertonghen was allowed to celebrate his comeback and in the closing stages De Cat also made his debut. The match rippled towards the end. A stunt was never really in the cards and Anderlecht can fully focus on the league in the coming weeks.
