Europa League: Anderlecht to knock out Zenit

THURSDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2017, 22:24 - Skyhawk
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GAMES Anderlecht had 82% chance to qualify after the 2-0 victory in Brussels. Furthermore, Anderlecht had never been eliminated in Europe after a 2-0. And that also didn't happen tonight in St.-Petersburg. Though the Mauves had to wait until the very last minute to secure the qualification.

Coach Weiler again replaced a large part of his team compared to the match against Ostend. The Belgian league has priority this season. But the team that started was practically the same as the one that beat Zenit last week. Only Chipciu came into the team for Bruno.

Zenit immediately took control over the game and Anderlecht didn't do much more than defending their advantage. The Russians didn't have a lot of chances, but it was a dangerous game to play, especially because Anderlecht's counter attacks were poor. After just 25 minutes of play, the Mauves got what they had asked for: Giuliano scored the 1-0. The goal proved to be excellent for the moral of the Russians. They increased the pace and created a few other chances. The score line at half time remained 1-0 though.

Anderlecht didn't really change their game plan for the second half, especially because Zenit lacked the necessary creativity to break open the Belgian defence a second time. Slowly but surely that would change though and in the 72nd minute Dzyuba completed a nice attack: 2-0. Just a few minutes later, Anderlecht were even virtually eliminated when Giuliano scored his second goal of the evening: 3-0.

With just 13 minutes remaining, the Mauves set up a final offensive with a shot of Dendoncker. Due to the lack of offensive power (Teodorzcyk is injured), coach Weiler even brought defender Nuytinck into play in support of striker Kiese Thelin. And that bold move even paid off in stoppage time: Nuytinck headed the ball to Thelin and the Swede headed the ball against the net: 3-1 and Anderlecht virtually qualified now. The Russians needed just one goal to turn the tide, but they ran out of time. They didn't come further than a free kick and a few corner kicks. 

 3-3 on aggregate, but Anderlecht win on away goals. And against Genk on Sunday, coach Weiler will surely swap more than half of his team again.



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