On Sunday night, Anderlecht returned to the top of the Jupiler League. As in Moscow, they won without playing particularly well. This time though, their opponents – Racing Genk – did not play particularly well either. Both sides showed signs of tiredness after their European travels. Anderlecht’s Dieumerci Mbokani scored his second goal in two games – you can ask no more of a striker – and he does seem, despite the tragic loss of his young son, to be happier in Brussels than he was with either Monaco or Wolfsburg.
With seven consecutive victories, Anderlecht’s fans should give a big vote of thanks to Ariel Jacobs. Last season, many of them were calling for his head but he stayed cool and didn’t waste his time criticising the board. Although Anderlecht have bought a few players, Jacobs has built his success to-date on the form of four players who were already on the books. Lucas Biglia has maintained his solid form, now takes the (successful) free-kicks and has taken over the captaincy, Matias Suarez has grown in confidence and shown his undoubted skills , Sacha Kljestan has begun to look like he can play as well as run and Fernando Canesin has arrived on the scene looking far older than his 18 years. Jacobs also seems to be relying more on youth and Marcin Wasilewski and Olivier Deschacht could well be in for long spells on the bench or in the stands. There could be selection problems in the future and it will be interesting to see how Mbokani, Milan Jovanovic and Ronald Vargas settle in the long-term.
Behind Anderlecht, Gent had an easy win over newly-promoted Leuven. Trond Sollied has inherited a talented squad and, in adding Christian Brüls, he has a wealth of creative options. Zlatan Ljubijankic played his 100th game for the club and scored two of Gent’s six goals.
Club Brugge again gave away two points (or one point if you consider this championship as a pre-playoff warm-up) by conceding a goal at Beerschot in extra time. Standard Liege joined the top six after a comfortable win over Lierse. Of the ‘Big Five’, only Genk are now outside of the Playoff positions. It was good to see Mario Breen refusing to give injuries as an excuse for his side’s defeat.
Mons dropped out of the top six by drawing at home with Lokeren. Losing 3-1 with five minutes to go, Mael Lepicier scored twice to salvage a point. Earlier, Mons striker Jeremy Perbet had scored his tenth goal of the season.
The international break has now arrived and we’ll have to way for two weeks before the Jupiler League kicks in again. On the 16th October, Club Brugge face Gent in the afternoon and, later, Anderlecht will take the field to oppose Standard Liege in the so-called ‘Clasico’. Those two games will tell us more about the chances of the four teams. The first match will take Trond Sollied back to his old stomping ground; as he was Club Brugge’s most successful coach in the past decade. The game at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium will be of particular interest as Mbokani and Jovanovic could find themselves up against their old paymasters. Standard will have a new look, especially in midfield where Luis Seijas, William Vainqueur and Franck Berrier will be out to prove that players such as Steven Defour and Axel Witsel are just a distant memory.
As for Mario Breen, he will be hoping that his team wins at Lokeren and that the other sides drop points to allow Genk back into the top six ahead of their double header with Chelsea.
Cercle Brugge 2 Sint Truiden 2
Westerlo 1 Zulte Waregem 1
Mons 3 Lokeren 3
Kortrijk 1 KV Mechelen 0
Gent 6 Leuven 1
Standard Liege 2 Lierse 0
Beerschot 1 Club brugge 1
Racing Genk 0 Anderlecht 1