With a standing ovation, the Anderlecht crowd yesterday said farewell to Yari Verschaeren. "It really moved me," he said after the match. "I was emotional all day. I've spent three quarters of my life here. Read more »
Jérémy Taravel is preparing for his final matches as head coach of RSC Anderlecht, but the Frenchman hopes to remain active within the club after this season. Although it seems unlikely he will be appointed permanent head coach, Taravel made clear he still sees a role for himself at Neerpede. In the run-up to the match against Sint-Truidense VV, the 39-year-old stressed he still feels strongly connected to the purple-and-white. "I would like to remain part of the new project," he said. Read more »
On Thursday evening Keisuke Goto will again be in the spotlight when STVV visit the Lotto Park. The Japanese forward, loaned to Sint?Truiden by Anderlecht, caused quite a stir in the first leg at Stayen with a late goal against his parent club. Goto celebrated the equaliser exuberantly and then provoked further by repeatedly and conspicuously kissing the STVV crest on his shirt. That clearly went down badly with some of the purple?and?white: among others Ludwig Augustinsson and Colin Coosemans confronted the young Japanese after the final whistle. Read more »
The heavy defeat of Royale Union Saint-Gilloise against Club Brugge KV also provoked reactions from Silvio Proto. The former Anderlecht icon didn't mince his words on a French-language sports podcast and responded sharply to the increasing comparisons between Union and R.S.C. Anderlecht. Proto conceded that Club Brugge is currently the dominant team in Belgium, but he added important nuance to that supremacy. Read more »
Today we launch a new web poll: what do you think of the hardcore supporters' decision to stop actively supporting in the remaining matches? On Sunday at the stadium we noticed opinions were divided. Most people understand the frustration, but not everyone thinks that "no longer actively supporting" is the best way to show it; there is still an important fourth place at stake. So we ask for your vote: agree? Read more »
Storm clouds loom over Anderlecht's leadership after the cup final. Owner Marc Coucke refused to comment. Chairman Michael Verschueren did speak, and in blunt terms. "We deserved to lose." Read more »
Nathan De Cat is fit again, and all of Anderlecht is hoping he will take the team by the hand tomorrow and steer them to victory in the Belgian Cup final. Will that be his farewell gift to Anderlecht? With one year left on his contract, a departure this summer seems almost inevitable. "But fans may still hope I'll stay," he tells Het Nieuwsblad today. Read more »
Antoine Sibierski spoke to the press this afternoon for the first time in his capacity as Anderlecht's sporting director. “My ambitions fully match those of the club,” said the 51-year-old Frenchman. He declined to comment on the current coach and the squad for now. Sibierski outlined his vision for Anderlecht: “We want to play dominant football, both on and off the ball. Read more »
This afternoon Anderlecht introduced its new sporting director, Antoine Sibierski, to the press. CEO Kenneth Bornauw said at the presentation that, before launching the search, the club carried out a thorough analysis of what it needed. "We arrived at five criteria. Sibierski meets all five," Bornauw said. Read more »
Antoine Sibierski has officially taken up the role of technical director at Anderlecht. The Frenchman was at Neerpede yesterday to finalise the last formalities. He brings substantial experience — and a personal story that has deeply shaped him. His approach is straightforward, thorough and uncompromising. Read more »
In an interview with Voetbal International, Cedric Hatenboer looks back on his transfer and his spell at Anderlecht. The midfielder explains how everything changed for him when Anderlecht replaced both coach and chairman. His future was also discussed. Read more »
A few hours before the clash with Union, Keisuke Goto looks back on the commotion that followed his celebration during STVV–Anderlecht. The Japanese forward, constantly followed by a Japanese film crew, says he still does not understand why the Brussels reaction was so strong after his goal against the purple-and-white. Nine days after his decisive strike that made it 2-0, Goto maintains he never meant to provoke RSCA. For him the celebration was above all an expression of relief: STVV had not beaten Anderlecht in almost eight years, and he himself had gone two months without scoring. Read more »
Anderlecht must absolutely win the cup final on 14 May and keep its fourth place in the table, says Jérémy Taravel. After the defeat to Union, RSCA now trails Sint?Truiden by eight points, a gap that makes the battle for third place "complex," Taravel admits. But the coach refuses to give up: "There are still 15 points to play for; as long as it's possible, we must believe." Taravel will have to do without Sardella for two weeks. Having reviewed the footage, the coach called the red card disproportionate: "A yellow for both players would have been sufficient." Read more »
The derby between Anderlecht and Union Saint-Gilloise was marked by a major turning point: the ejection of Killian Sardella following a VAR review. Just as Anderlecht had narrowed the deficit (1-2), a confrontation arose between Sardella and Guilherme. The Anderlecht defender lightly bumped his forehead against the Union player, who fell to the ground with a lot of theatre. Read more »
After a twenty-year collaboration, RSC Anderlecht and the Sint-Guido-Instituut are going their separate ways. The school, which gained national attention in 2011 thanks to the TV series The School of Lukaku, is thus ending a long-standing relationship with the club. Romelu Lukaku attended the Sint-Guido-Instituut as a teenager, graduating in the field of Reception and Public Relations. Read more »
Mihajlo Cvetkovic appeared satisfied after the match, in which he found the back of the net. Still, he emphasized that the team's victory remains the most important thing. According to him, the coach had asked beforehand to come on with extra energy and quality, confident that a goal would then follow naturally—an expectation he was able to fulfill. Read more »
No — Jérémy Taravel is the first to admit that Anderlecht did not play well against Gent. The coach was nonetheless pleased and relieved that his side still managed to claim all three points. "The bench made the difference. That shows we are a close-knit team," Taravel said. Read more »
Adriano Bertaccini scored Anderlecht's third goal against Gent, a boost for the purple-and-white forward who hadn't found the net for some time. He admits the strike did him good both personally and for the team. Bertaccini said the bench made the difference in this match and singled out Tristan Degreef's impressive cameo. He celebrated his goal with a member of the staff who had predicted he would score in this game. Read more »
To make your debut and immediately be named "Man of the Match": that is what Justin Heekeren experienced yesterday against AA Gent. With a few superb saves he prevented Anderlecht from falling further behind. "Confidence wasn't great, but we kept fighting." "That I received the Man of the Match award isn't important to me," Heekeren said modestly afterwards. "It's a victory for the whole team. Read more »
With a goal just before the hour mark, Thorgan Hazard stirred Anderlecht back to life. Yet the playmaker was far from satisfied with the performance Anderlecht produced. "We came with the best intentions, but didn't show that in the first half." Read more »
Anderlecht immediately face a tough assignment with a trip to title contender Club Brugge. Coach Jérémy Taravel remains calm but realises his team is up against a stern test. According to him, the home side will do everything to bolster their title ambitions. Taravel points to the earlier meeting between the two teams, when Anderlecht impressed with relentless pressing and intensity. Read more »
The young Anderlecht talent Nathan De Cat is regularly compared by analysts and supporters to a young Jan Ceulemans. It is especially his body language, style of play and physical presence that evoke the former Red Devil. Analyst Franky Van der Elst recently remarked that De Cat strongly reminds him of Ceulemans, although the latter used to play a little higher up the pitch. The Champions' Play-offs kick off on Monday with a big clash between Club Brugge and Anderlecht, and in the build-up to that match the striking comparison provoked plenty of debate. Read more »
In the series "How healthy is your club?" Het Nieuwsblad, together with sports economist Wim Lagae (KU Leuven), analyses the financial and structural state of Belgian professional clubs. This time Anderlecht is under the microscope. Who holds the reins? The majority of the club is owned by Marc Coucke and business partner Joris Ide, although Ide tends to stay more in the background. Read more »
Zeno Debast is available again after a long period of rehabilitation. The defender was sidelined for almost five months with a knee injury, longer than initially expected. “I returned too quickly and suffered a relapse. Mentally that was tough, but I came out of it stronger,” he says. Read more »
At RSC Anderlecht, too, the defeat against Cercle Brugge left a clear mark on Ludwig Augustinsson. The Swedish defender spared neither himself nor his teammates in his post-match reaction. According to Augustinsson, Anderlecht never reached the required level. “We completely failed to play our own game,” he said sharply. Read more »
Disappointment at RSC Anderlecht remained high after the loss to Cercle Brugge, even for rising star Nathan De Cat. Despite a strong personal performance, the 17-year-old midfielder could not prevent a painful evening and was unusually frank in his assessment afterwards. He said the game was effectively lost in the first half. “We gave the match away there,” he said, visibly disappointed. Read more »
RSC Anderlecht managed to qualify for the Champions' Play-offs after a chaotic and disappointing evening, but there was little sign of relief. The defeat to Cercle Brugge left deep marks, and coach Jérémy Taravel was unusually sharp about his squad afterwards. “With this mindset we won't win a single match in the play-offs,” he said bluntly. The ending of the match summed up the whole night. Read more »
Almost ten months after his last minutes on the pitch, Alexis Flips made his comeback this week with the Futures. In an emotional Instagram post he reflects on this difficult period. "Finally I'm back to give the best of myself again." He had not played since May last year. A plantar injury just would not go away. Read more »
Undefeated since Jérémy Taravel took over as head coach, Anderlecht enters the final stretch of the regular season with renewed momentum. Last weekend's draw in Bruges confirms this resurgence. What can still happen in the playoffs? For Thomas Chatelle, a former RSCA player and now an analyst, the current situation at Sporting could even turn into an advantage. During the Champions' Playoffs, which start in April, Anderlecht will play without the usual pressure. Read more »
