In a very rhythmic Brussels derby, neither the Union nor Anderlecht were able to find the fault. The two teams parted in a scoreless draw which does not help anyone in terms of accounting except… Club Bruges. Building on their victory over Antwerp, the Blauw and Zwart are in the lead with 2 points ahead of Anderlecht and 3 over Union.
The essays :
Union : Moris, Mac Allister, Burgess, Machida, Castro-Montes, Vanhoutte, Teklab, Lazare Amani, Puertas, Amoura, Nilsson
Anderlecht : Schmeichel, Sardella, Debast, Vertonghen, Augustinsson, Rits, Delaney, Ashimeru, Stroeykens, Dreyer, Dolberg
Highlights:
Anderlecht got into the game very well. After 4 minutes of play, Ashimeru was found in depth, played once morest Moris but his control did not allow him to hit into an almost empty goal.
After 7 minutes of play, Debast intervened very poorly on a long ball from Mac Allister, the ball returned to the feet of Amoura who fired a powerful shot but Schmeichel intervened well.
After 21 minutes of play, Dolberg was found deep and faced Moris. It took a superb reflex from the Union goalkeeper to deflect the ball which returned to Dreyer’s feet but Moris was once once more on the parade. A huge double opportunity for Anderlecht.
The Mauves lost the ball in the 25th minute, all to the benefit of Amoura who fired a powerful shot from the entrance to the rectangle but it was too central and the Anderlecht goalkeeper was attentive.
At the half-hour mark, Jan Vertonghen had to leave the field due to injury. A hard blow which might have led to another because Mac Allister opened the scoring just followingwards but the goal was canceled for offside.
Just following leaving the locker room, Delaney sent a cross towards the far post. Isolated, Stroeykens resumed but it lacked power. After 53 minutes of play, an Anderlecht free kick found Delaney completely forgotten by the defense. The Dane attempted a cross-shot which went just wide.
From the left flank, Amoura entered the game and sent a powerful strike from the edge of the rectangle. Schmeichel intervened well. In the 68th minute, it was the Union’s turn to lose an important player to injury, in the person of Burgess. Big opportunity for the Union 10 minutes from time, a corner found Sykes at the penalty spot but Schmeichel won on his line. In the 85th minute, Rasmussen found Nilsson with a sharp pass. The Swedish giant only had to finish but missed his move and the Anderlecht goalkeeper was able to intervene.
