GAMES Anderlecht has responded after the setback in Ghent. It beat Westerlo 4-1 after a strong performance that was decided in the closing stages of the first half, when Anderlecht suddenly struck three times in six minutes. After the break, the purple-and-white added a fourth, while Westerlo managed to pull one back late on. Cvetkovic, Stroeykens, Aasgaard and Ambros scored Anderlecht's goals.
Anderlecht went in 3-0 up at half-time, although the first 38 minutes were far from memorable. Westerlo played along well enough, but was unable to trouble Coosemans, even if Anderlecht had to be wary of the visitors' advancing midfielders. Anderlecht itself also failed to create much danger, at least until five minutes before the break, when it suddenly brought out the heavy artillery. From a cross by the impressive Onia Seke, Ambros headed the ball on to Cvetkovic, who nodded in the easy opener. Purple-and-white did not hesitate and kept going. Four minutes later, Cvetkovic laid the ball back and Stroeykens blasted the 2-0 into the net. And there was more to come.
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Continue reading In extra time, Aasgaard curled a free kick beautifully into the bottom-right corner. With such a comfortable lead, Anderlecht's main task after the break was to avoid any foolish mistakes. Westerlo, however, was unable to respond immediately after the restart. It was Anderlecht that went all out in search of more goals. Cvetkovic and Maamar missed the chance to make it 4-0 after a fine combination straight after the break. Onia Seke whipped in another cross, but nobody was there at the far post. On the hour mark, the fourth goal could finally be celebrated. Ambros reacted quickest to turn in the rebound after a shot from Cvetkovic.
Ten minutes from time, Westerlo still managed to salvage some pride through a deflected effort from Storm, by which point Anderlecht had already started thinking about the next matches. In stoppage time, Sikan headed wide, while Bertaccini took too long to punish a mistake by Lapage. Anderlecht remains unpredictable. Where chances were wasted last week, they went in very smoothly today. Even after the 3-0, Anderlecht kept looking for more goals. Onia Seke continued his fine run with an excellent performance, while Aasgaard, for instance, also played his best game for the purple-and-white. Before this match, Anderlecht had scored only nine times, yet tonight four players who had not yet found the net in the league suddenly did so.
Still, it is far too early for celebrations. Anderlecht has been too inconsistent this season for that. The performance once again offers hope of improvement, although it remains to be seen which side Bruno will field against Salzburg on Thursday. On Sunday, meanwhile, the top match away at Club Brugge awaits.
