GAMES Anderlecht lost 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in the dying moments of the match. The Croatians scored on a penalty kick in the very last minute of extra time. Anderlecht didn't play a bad game, however, and failed to score mainly before halftime.
After Zagreb dominated the early going, Anderlecht (with Stroeykens once again playing as a defensive midfielder) quickly gained control of the match. Both Aasgaard and Degreef tried their luck from distance.
Twenty minutes in, a fluidly playing Purple & White side came close to opening the scoring. Winkler found Cvetkovic in the center, who hit the crossbar. Anderlecht recovered well, and debutant Reabciuk then also struck the crossbar off Kotarski's fingertips. Not long after, Degreef had another good chance, but his header went straight at Zagreb's goalkeeper. From these chances, the Purple-and-Whites certainly should have scored at least once.
After the first half-hour, Anderlecht lost some control, and the Croatians began to threaten again, especially on the left, where the experienced Albanian Hoxha Barry caused some problems. Anderlecht got away with a few close calls on corner kicks before halftime and had some luck with chances by Galesic and Almena.
In the first ten minutes after halftime, Zagreb remained dangerous. Winkler cleared a ball for a corner right in front of the tall striker Beljo. The German made another save on the other side shortly afterward, but Kotarski made a fine save. After that, the match entered a long stretch in which neither Zagreb nor Anderlecht could create any real danger.
Despite all the substitutions, Anderlecht seemed to have run out of steam, allowing Zagreb to regain the upper hand. The Croatians nearly created a dangerous chance with a quarter of an hour left, but fortunately, they failed to finish the attack. Anderlecht tested Kotarski one last time with a shot from Aasgaard. In the 80th minute, Hoxha appeared to capitalize on a turnover by Winkler. The Albanian broke through alone toward Coosemans, but Barry made a brilliant last-second return to thwart the chance.
Just like last Saturday, however, the sting was in the tail of the match—but this time not to Anderlecht's advantage. In the final minute of stoppage time, Reabciuk unluckily handled the ball, resulting in a penalty kick. Beljo sent Anderlecht home with a weakly taken penalty, leaving them with zero points out of six in the Europa League.
Anderlecht thus lost a precious point in Europe, even though they certainly didn't play badly before halftime and had chances to score. After the break, the team seemed to lose some of its fire. Anderlecht will have to recover quickly from this disappointment, as an important cup match against Beerschot awaits on Sunday.
Score: 1-0
Goal(s): 1-0 Beljo (penalty, 90'+3)
Dinamo Zagreb: Kotarski, Vinlöf, Galesic (Valincic 61'), Dominguez, Radeljic, Misic, Ivanusec, Stojkovic (Kacavenda 68'), Hoxha, Beljo, Almena (Rodriguez 61')
Anderlecht: Coosemans, Barry, Pétrot, Omobamidele, Reabciuk, Aasgaard, Stroeykens (Amane 86'), Degreef (Bertaccini 76'), Ambros (Bentayeb 64'), Winkler (Antman 86'), Cvetkovic (Sikan 76')
Yellow cards: Galesic 30', Degreef 35', Misic 54', Winkler 72'
Red cards:
Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (Israel)
Stadium: Maksimir
Source: © Internal source
