Anderlecht dropped points once again. They played to a 0-0 draw against Genk, despite having an excellent scoring opportunity in each half, but Brughmans made the save both times. Anderlecht certainly deserved the win, but all in all, they failed to create enough danger.
Augustinsson had a great chance off a pass from Koutsoupias, who was making a solid debut, but the Swede shot wide. A few minutes later, Brughmans made a fine save to deny a diving header by Bentayeb—Anderlecht's best chance of the first half. The end of the first half was more evenly matched again. Bangoura was unmarked, but he completely missed his header.
After the break, Anderlecht remained the better team for a while, but there were still too many sloppy mistakes in their play. Genk relied on their strong striker Dorusinmi. First, he had a chance to score almost alone in front of the goal; then, on the hour mark, he hit the post from a sharp angle. Anderlecht got off lightly there.
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Continue reading In the 71st minute, Anderlecht had another great chance, spurred on by Winkler, but Maamar couldn't get past Brughmans. The Moroccan is often in the right place, but he just can't seem to score. After that, Anderlecht couldn't create any more big chances, and it seemed like the game was over. In the closing minutes, things got tense for Anderlecht for a moment after a poor clearance by Biancone, but Genk couldn't capitalize on the mistake. So Anderlecht dropped points once again, even though they were the better team. The Purple & White have scored just three times in five games, and that's something they'll have to work on urgently. On Friday, they travel to KV Mechelen, who will be looking to turn around their poor start to the season. Anderlecht had better be on guard, as they've lost both of their away games this season, and a hostile reception always awaits them in Mechelen. We may see a few new additions to the squad by then who were missing so far.
Anderlecht can't afford to drop any more points in the coming weeks. After five matches, it's already 8 (!) points behind leader Gent. It's also about time to field the strongest lineup.