Anderlecht’s first half pressure
So it was not to be. Anderlecht played well for 45 minutes and then failed to concentrate at the beginning of the second half. A goal from AC Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy and a wonder strike from Philippe Mexès sealed Anderlecht’s fate. Now they most hope that results work out for them on the final day when Europa League qualification will be at stake, but I fear the worst.
In the first half, Lucas Biglia and Sacha Kljestan were excellent, running midfield and giving their forwards some good opportunities to strike.
Mexes and Mbokani both wanted to make progress
Dennis Praet and Olivier Deschacht also made useful contributions but there was no one capable of scoring, no one with that clinical efficiency that separates the top teams from the average. Tom De Sutter looked good when he came on for the last 20 minutes and one wonders what he could do if someone showed confidence in him in the long run.
Milan Jovanovic was disappointing and although he has good league form, in Europe he is a busted flush. The other failure was Guillaume Gillet. He is not a full back, as was seen by his positioning last night. He left his flank wide open for the first goal and if he’s the best right back in Belgium, Mark Wilmots has a problem. Dieumerci Mbokani, as usual, was inconsistent. He wants a transfer but I suspect the big clubs will have realised that he only shows flashes of brilliance and is in no way dependable.
Teams
Along with Praet, Massimo Bruno looks good for the future, although he’s far from the finished article. As usual, the problems for Anderlecht will appear in the transfer windows, when players like Biglia and Cheikhou Kouyaté will be looking to move on. But that’s football and at least with John Van den Brom, for a few seasons, they have someone willing to play attractive football.
