It wasn’t the best RSCA this evening against a timid Porto, but the Mauves still reacted after being behind twice. A point which will probably be welcomed with satisfaction.
Nothing would have been mathematical in the event of a victory this Thursday evening, but RSC Anderlecht could still do a very good job if they beat FC Porto. Porto is in very bad shape, having only 4 points in this competition at the time of going to Lotto Park and with numerous injuries.
It was therefore necessary to take the opponent by the throat, and we believed that Sporting succeeded beyond its wildest dreams: on the… first touch of the Brussels ball, Tristan Degreef, surprised by boss Hubert, threw Dolberg in depth. The Dane, cold as ice, lobs Costa – but is offside (1st).
Anderlecht dominated the start of the match, the only Portuguese danger coming from the feet of Galeno who crossed in front of everyone (9th). On the opposite side of the field, Samuel Edozie puts his opponent to martyrdom, without ever finding the target afterwards.
The chances are not clear, but during a mix-up in the Anderlecht rectangle, the unfortunate Degreef touches the face of an opponent: the VAR designates a penalty, which is converted Galen against the run of play (25th, 0-1).
Anderlecht then took a blow to the head and lost its football a little, not helped by the lackluster match of “X factor” Mario Stroeykens. Not shaken by his penalty, Degreef tried things, finding Edozie with a superb opening followed by a cross which almost found Dolberg (42nd). Dendoncker, little in sight until then, fired a nice shot at the end of the first period which finally alerted Costa (45th+2).
Degreef rewarded
The Mauves come back very well on the field, and even think of equalizing when very good work from Degreef finds the head of Mats Rits… which hits the post (48th). Tristan Degreef will, however, end up being rewarded himself for his very good match (apart from the penalty conceded): Rits returns the courtesy, and the youngster from Neerpede scores his first goal in Mauve & Blanc (1-1, 52nd).
The pace of the match was then interrupted when Anderlecht remained 10 minutes behind following the injury of Samuel Edozie, replaced by Francis Amuzu. The Mauves leave too much latitude to an opponent who is far from inspired and very rough in the duel. N’diaye comes close to the penalty (67th), Eustaquio alerts Coosemans (70th).
If Rits finds Costa on a nice delivery from Amuzu (77th), it is however FC Porto who will end up striking: Fabio Vieirabarely returned, has far too much space in the middle (Dendoncker will not have been very good this evening) and strikes, deceiving Coosemans on the rebound (83rd, 1-2). The Porto supporters, very noisy throughout the match, did not have time to rejoice that Francis Have fun he also sends a deflected shot from his left flank (2-2, 88th).
“Ciske” was the only entrant to make the difference: Dreyer and Vazquez did not succeed at all in putting the Portuguese defense under pressure despite a real siege from Brussels at the end of the match. Worse: a rescue from Coosemans was needed in the final moments to avoid defeat on a raid by Gonçalo Borges (90th+5).
The sharing, however, will satisfy two teams ultimately uninspired this evening. Anderlecht remain very well placed for the play-offs, but probably missed an opportunity to stay firmly in the top 8.
