Anderlecht beat Charleroi 3-2 in spectacular match

Tonight Anderlecht won at home against Charleroi. Obvious man of the match was Ahmed Hassan: He scored a hattrick. Anderlecht played its best league game in months, yet it did not turn out to be an easy win.


It was obvious from the very first minutes that Anderlecht developed a good gameplay just like in wednesday's cup match against Racing Genk. Additionally, Anderlecht used high pressing that made it difficult for Charleroi to develop their gameplay.

Soon Anderlecht created a couple of minor chances through Goor and Boussoufa and in the 12th minute the home team managed to score. Frutos' header was saved by Charleroi goalkeeper Luzi, but Hassan was there to knock the rebound into the goal. Anderlecht dominated the game and created several others chances. A shot from Baseggio, who made his first appearance in the starting line-up since his return, went just wide. Just for the break the visitors had a chance through Camus, but his shot went wide.

Charleroi coach Mathijsen realised he needed to make a move to get a better grip on the game and made two substitutions during the break. However, Anderlecht's dominance continued. Frutos, Hassan and Boussoufa all had attempts at the goal but none succeeded in adding to the score. And then the inevitable happenend. What appeared to be harmless shot by Camus ended up in the netting due to an error by Zitka: 1-1. With only 20 minutes to go Anderlecht had to pile on the pressure. Frutos had his second big chance of the match to score but after he managed to get around Luzi he inexplicably missed the target. Soon, however, Hassan put Anderlecht 2-1 in front.

Yet with a mere 5 minutes remaining on the clock, Jovial surprised Anderlecht by adding another goal to the visitors' counter: 2-2. The result was a great unrest among the spectators who saw the lead of rivals Racing Genk growing. Yet in the very last minutes, Hassan proved his worth for the team and saved the day for the Mauves. With a superbly taken free kick he won the game.

Score: 3-2
Goals: 12' Ahmed Hassan 1-0, 68' Fabien Camus 1-1, 77' Ahmed Hassan 2-1, 85' Brice Jovial, 89' Ahmed Hassan 3-2

Anderlecht: Daniel Zitka, Olivier Deschacht, Roland Juhasz, Marcin Wasilewski, Nicolas Pareja, Walter Baseggio (86' Jonathan Legear), Lucas Biglia (89' Jelle Van Damme), Mbark Boussoufa (90' Mpenza), Bart Goor, Ahmed Hassan, Nicolas Frutos
Charleroi: Patrice Luzi, Laurent Ciman (46' Hemza Mihoubi), Frank Defays, 'Badou' Mahamadou Kéré, Fabien Camus, Grégory Christ, Christian Leiva, Abdelmajid Oulmers, Tim Smolders, Orlando Dos Santos Costa (77' Brice Jovial), Jérémy Perbet (46' Joseph Akpala)

Yellow card: 21' 'Badou' Mahamadou Kéré, Joseph Akpala
Referee: Nijhuis
Stadium: Constant Vanden Stockstadium