BEERSCHOT - ANDERLECHT 0 - 7
A night to forget for Beerschot who were totally outplayed and humiliated by a young freewheelend Anderlecht. The visitors only were in trouble during the first five minutes of the game when Noubissi tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area but his shot was palmed away over the crossbar by Van Crombrugge. Right after that Vincent Kompany's team took over control and the game turned into a Boys v Men match. Golden boot winner Lior Refaelov starred in the first half, providing three goals. Two times Verschaeren and Zirkzee could simply tap in with the Beerschot defense stranded and all over the place.
Game over after 45 minutes, especially after Rapha Holzhauser was sent off right on the stroke of half time for a foul on Kouame who was on his way to Anderlecht's goal number four. It rounded off a dreadful first half performance in which our midfield never got a foot in, our defense making childish mistakes and/or performing well under par, goalkeeper Vanhamel being at its worst and our forwards waiting in vain for a good pass.
Coach Lucho Torrente sent on Shankland and De Smet for the second half, but even before our two subs even touched the ball, Lior Refaelov had already scored at the other end. Anderlect coach Vincent Kompany's substitutions proved much more efficient. Benito Raman - a former Beerschot player in 2013 - came on and scored twice in five minutes. He felt embarrassed and didn't want to celebrate which was a nice gesture towards the Beerschot family. But it didn't ease the pain. On the contrary.
Anderlecht weren't satisfied yet, kept producing the better football and scored a seventh goal when a feeble shot from Amuzu wasn't covered by Vanhamel who let slip the ball between his arms and legs. The ultimate humiliation.
ATTENDANCE: 0
REFEREE: Smet
GOALS: 8' Verschaeren 0-1, 19' Verschaeren 0-2, 35' Zirkzee 0-3, 47' Refaelov 0-4, 64' Raman 0-5, 68' Raman 0-6, 72' Amuzu 0-7
BEERSCHOT: Vanhamel, Dom, Lemos, Bourdin, Van den Bergh, Pietermaat, Caicedo (77' Okyere), Vaca, Holzhauser, Noubissi (46' Shankland), Suzuki (46' De
Smet)
ANDERLECHT: Van Crombrugge, Magallan, Hoedt, Cullen (68' Ait El Hadj), Refaelov (57' Raman), Sergio, Olsson (46' Mykhalichenko), Zirkzee, Verschaeren, Murillo (46' Ashimeru) Kouame (57' Amuzu)
YELLOW CARDS: Caicedo, Bourdin
RED CARDS: 42' Holzhauser
By Danny Geerts
Photo: Jan Mees
