GAMES Anderlecht drew 1-1 in Ghent. On the one hand they can be satisfied — they played the second half with ten men after a foolish red card for Cvetkovic. On the other hand they have reason to be disappointed: they produced a good first half but forgot to extend their 0-1 lead. Gent equalised after poor defending on the stroke of half-time, but barely threatened Anderlecht after the break.
In that way Anderlecht held on quite comfortably with a man down, but could no longer impose itself. Anderlecht started well and produced a strong first half under the impulse of Verschaeren and Bertaccini. They took the lead early on with a slice of luck when a Bertaccini pass deflected off Lopes into his own net. Roef was kept busy afterwards, reacting well to attempts from Cvetkovic, Bertaccini and Degreef. Anderlecht combined smoothly, enjoyed much more possession and Gent looked out of the game.
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Continue reading Yet Anderlecht failed to double the lead and threw away all their good work in the final five minutes before the break. The defence was caught twice for the equaliser: Camara let Goore slip past him — the two players had been at each other for some time — and Duverne was completely unmarked at the far post. Thus Gent not only levelled out of nowhere, Anderlecht would also end up playing the second half with ten men. Van der Heyden had been provoking Cvetkovic for a while and after another shove the Serbian reacted inappropriately.
After Sardella this is already the second hugely stupid red card Anderlecht have suffered in the play-offs. You know the slightest reaction is enough to be sent off. Anderlecht squandered a favourable half-time position by shooting itself in the foot twice. There is also a real chance Cvetkovic's season is effectively over after the cup final. Anderlecht immediately sat deep with ten men after the break, but Gent failed to seriously trouble Coosemans. Around the hour Taravel made three substitutions; Rits was among those who came back on. Anderlecht ceased to be dangerous and were already content with some possession higher up the field. They stayed standing thanks to a sloppily playing Gent. T
he home side did create a chance in the 83rd minute when Van der Heyden diverted a cross, but Coosemans stood firm. Throughout the game there was an unsporting atmosphere on the pitch: after Van der Heyden's provocation before the break, Coosemans twice went down theatrically, Dean also went to ground and provoked Degreef. After the final whistle there was a brief scuffle on the field in which De Cat picked up a yellow card.
A point is not a bad result for Anderlecht in itself. Gent now only face teams from the top three, while Anderlecht still have to sort out Mechelen (and STVV). They will also have to hope the title race remains undecided for as long as possible so Union and Club Brugge are forced to keep pushing.
