Surprise du chef. The 17-year-old Mario Stroeykens received his very first base place this season from Felice Mazzu. Esposito and Raman watched from the couch how the Neerpede product quickly claimed a prominent role. Stroeykens had the first big chance after ten minutes. However, he seemed too eager to score on his starting debut and ran into Schmidt, while passing to Silva was clearly the better choice. Stroeykens, however, made quite an impression.
It was also a long search for both teams. The tropical temperatures (and two drink breaks per half) obviously played their part in this. Fortunately, there was still the Canary mascot to cool down with a water pistol.
Until Silva – who else – startled Stayen with a header against the post. Al-Dakhil was in the right place in the rebound to clear. It turned out to be only a delay, because Anderlecht shifted a few gears higher at the end of the first half. A wonderful combination between Silva, Amuzu and Refaelov – where the Truiense defense saw stars – was completed by the latter. Another handful of minutes later, Silva settled all the disputes with a striking blow to the neck. His fifth in six matches – the Portuguese’s counter keeps running.
After the break Anderlecht switched more to saving mode – bearing in mind the move to Switzerland. STVV drew confidence from it and provided a few hot positions in front of Van Crombrugge’s goal. Until purple and white once quickly and deadly countered. Silva served Raman, who left Schmidt without a chance. A hit that will please Raman. Murillo even left the 0-4 in the final.
Anderlecht will start the competition with nine out of twelve – the failure on Cercle is now a thing of the past. It draws confidently into the crucial double encounter with Young Boys. A closing for the statisticians: STVV only lost today for the first time since… January 28th.
Yari Verschaeren: “This is the Anderlecht we want to see”
0-3 on Stayen, was it an easy day for RSCA? “It’s easy to say a lot” Verschaeren reacted after the match with rights holder Eleven. “We are playing a complete game. This is the Anderlecht that we want to show and also want to show for the rest of the year.” A good dress rehearsal for the crucial match against Young Boys on Thursday. “We knew this was going to be an important game, not only for the league but also to stay in the flow. Because there are two important games coming up now.”
Hendrik Van Crombrugge: “Hard words were spoken after Cercle”
“It was a good team performance”, Van Crombrugge put some good saves into perspective. “I try to contribute to that. I want to be in the picture as little as possible, because then things will go well for us.”
Anderlecht takes 9 out of 12. The only blemish on the face for now is only the loss against Cercle: “Win three times, lost once, that’s the balance. That defeat to Cercle is unnecessary. It was an absolutely outrageous performance. That sounds heavy, but it is true. Harsh words have been spoken indoors, and they had to.” Van Crombrugge also looked ahead to the match against Young Boys: “Thursday it will be a difficult opponent. But if you want to earn your place in that Conference League you have to beat such opponents. That didn’t work out against Vitesse last year, but we shot ourselves too much in the foot there. Hopefully it will work now.”
Fabio Silva: “So much fun to play with someone like Refaelov”
With a goal and an assist, the ‘Man of the Match’ trophy did not unexpectedly go to Fabio Silva. “The most important thing is the win,” he said calmly after the game. “It’s easy for me to play with such good teammates.” He also threw flowers at the other goalscorer, Lior Refaelov: “It’s really fun to play with him. He’s so smart the way he dives into the spaces. He understands the game. He lays out the balls so beautifully. It is unbelievable. I am so happy to be able to play with him.”
