Cercle de Bruges initially offered good resistance, then ended up cracking against Anderlecht. Would things have been different with Kevin Denkey?
This was the big surprise as this Cercle-Anderlecht approached: Groen & Zwart were deprived of Kevin Denkey, authorized to… go and negotiate a possible transfer. Quite surprising on a day of shock against the Mauves, and that will make for discussion.
Especially since Cercle de Bruges was finally swept away, it was not for lack of having had the opportunities to put Anderlecht in difficulty. A cross from Nazinho (7th), then an astonishing acrobatic gesture from Magnée (10th) directly warns Coosemans that he will have to be attentive. It will be on a deflected shot from Alan Minda (14th).
However, Cercle was punished from the first constructed phase of the RSCA: Stroeykens sent Samuel Edozie behind the Bruges defense, the Englishman’s cross was perfect and found Kasper Dolberg (18th, 0-1). All it took was an acceleration. Groen & Zwart are ineffective: Ravych forces Coosemans to box a ball clumsily (24th), Somers places a header a few centimeters from the goal from a standstill (29th)…
We don’t know how Cercle didn’t score – but they could even have found themselves trailing by two goals at the break, with Edozie hitting the post at the end of the first period (45th) in a phase similar to that of the goal.
Augusto misses the mark, Anderlecht unfolds
It was at the start of the second half that two consecutive misses from Felipe Augusto, who replaced Denkey in the eleven, made one wonder if the match could have gone differently with the Togolese. His second opportunity, especially, on a three-star serve from Nazinho, should at least have been on target (51st).
Unsurprisingly, the Circle is therefore fooled in the other direction, as in the first period. A hand is whistled in the rectangle on a big Brussels occasion: Kasper Dolberg does not need to be asked to convert the penalty (62nd, 0-2). There is then nothing more to detail, apart from the Anderlecht goals which will rain.
First via Théo Leoni, who came into play, and who silkily took a second ball from a corner to make it 0-3 in a very good way (73rd); then, again, via Dolberg who offers himself a new hat-trick, this time on a serve from Amuzu coming in like a devil (75th, 0-4). Diakité is excluded for a bad gesture on an elusive Stroeykens (82nd), and Luis Vazquez will console themselves for their delicate week with one more goal from a new cross from Amuzu to set a forfeit score (0-5, 90th).
A real massacre, therefore, and an Anderlecht demonstration which makes us forget the little misstep in Riga. On the Cercle side, on the other hand, we are entitled to wonder how it is possible to authorize your best player to negotiate a transfer on a match day. A well-timed goal could have changed the match…
