How far away is this 16th day, when success in the Brussels derby put stars in the eyes of the Lotto Park faithful. Club Brugge, which Besnik Hasi’s troops had defeated three weeks earlier, was only a small point behind and Union SG was five points behind. “What if?”said they were the most optimistic and sweet dreamers of the Anderlecht public, cruelly hungry for trophies for almost nine painful years and carried away by the six victories in a row (including the one in overtime, in Genk, in the Cup).
Once rebellious, “undisciplined” and dismissed, Coba da Costa must make Angulo forget after succeeding Greenwood: who is Anderlecht’s recruit?
It must be said that the illusions only lasted seven days since, the day after the passage of Saint-Nicolas, Westerlo had already destroyed all hope. Following this rout at Kuipje, which, after the fact, lost all its appearance of a simple “day without” and took on those of the first real alarm, Colin Coosemans, Marco Kana, Thorgan Hazard and Co. fell back with their feet on the ground.
And today? They seem even lower than that. Over the last seven meetings, Sporting has seen Sint-Truiden pocket ten more points, Bruges and Unionists seven and eight respectively. Consequence: rather than being the hunter of the leading trio, Sporting today finds itself being the hunted. While such a scenario was still unthinkable at the beginning of December, the Mauves’ place in the top 6 is indeed in great danger. Mechelen, seventh, is only three points away.
Looking at the last seven days, Anderlecht has, with 15 goals conceded, the worst defense in the country – tied with Genk and Club Bruges. But the Blauw en Zwart, for their part, at least had the merit of planting 20 on the other side and the Limburgers, 10. To at least compensate, somewhat, for their defensive weakness… Two things are certain: there will be many projects for Hasi’s successor and qualification for the Cup is more welcome than ever.
