Anderlecht took a good point in Bucharest: 0-0. The Purple & White didn’t play well against FCSB yet, but this time they had eaten enough sandwiches to stay upright. With 4 out of 6 RSCA even takes an option in second place in this Conference League. However, there is still a lot of pressure on the match against Kortrijk on Sunday.
The Romanian FCSB is a schizophrenic football club. The club still behaves like the great Steaua Bucharest, but it isn’t anymore. The real Steaua has restarted in the lower series and now plays football in the second division. A bit of a Beveren story. The following is also split. Some old Steaua fans hate FCSB, others just keep on cheering. The latter still do it very fanatically. The National Arena was well filled for the arrival of Anderlecht and thundered.
Message for Verschaeren
The Purple & White also shivered after the 1 out of 12 in the competition. Felice Mazzu tried to put his team on edge by telling the youngsters to realize that this is a sport for adults. That message seemed mainly intended for Yari Verschaeren, who started on the couch. Although the Brussels midfield was still very young due to the absence of Diawara, with Kana and Arnstad kicking off. Men like Wesley Hoedt and Amir Murillo escaped Mazzu’s stern judgment by the way. Remarkable.
The inhabitants of Brussels started more assertively in Bucharest than last weekend in Westerlo. After the 1-0 win against Silkeborg in the first match of this group, the pressure in Europe is also less than in the Jupiler Pro League. Anderlecht didn’t give away so many chances and sporadically tried to advance themselves. Ashimeru was quite active in midfield, but it remains difficult for RSCA to really get into the opponent’s box. The few times it worked, Amuzu was either offside or Fabio Silva decided way too weak.
It was also important to watch out for the Romanians’ counteractions. After Marco Kana was quickly (wrongly) yellowed, the teenager had to pay more attention and therefore FCSB defender Joyskim Dawa was able to advance fiercely. Hendrik Van Crombrugge saved his shot, but the Anderlecht keeper got away very well afterwards. When he released a high ball, the goalkeeper pulled an opponent down into the box. Fortunately there was no VAR, otherwise the ball would probably have been placed on the dot.
Anderlecht could live with a point in Romania and the urge to move forward completely disappeared from time to time. Jan Vertonghen also did not push the team forward. Zeno Debast did play an adult game at the back again. It wouldn’t surprise us at all if Roberto Martinez includes the teenager in the selection of the Red Devils.
Workman’s outfit
Mazzu hoped for more and took off his black suit vest. Rather a workman’s outfit, because there had to be fought harder. Refaelov and Arnstad still fired shots, but the coach intervened and brought more offensive force with Verschaeren, Esposito and Duranville. That resulted in some sloppy positions for Doe – Esposito should also have received a penalty – but also a Romanian counter that could have been fatal.
In the end, the score remained on the board and Anderlecht did a good job in this Conference League. The inhabitants of Brussels must now hope that they are not a schizophrenic club with two faces. Taking points in Europe is not enough. On Sunday it is absolutely necessary to win against Kortrijk. Preferably with a more mature performance.
Photo: BELGA
