RSC Anderlecht was not able to create a miracle on the final matchday of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. In order to push through to the Europa League, the Purple & White had to beat Celtic with three goals’ difference, but in the end they only won by one goal. Coach Vanhaezebrouck put Frank Boeckx in goal for the final European match of the season, while Spajic, Obradovic and Dendoncker were also in the starting line-up.
Even before the start of the game, Celtic Park sang You’ll Never Walk Alone, which resulted in goosebumps on and off the pitch. The Purple & White, however, were not impressed, Sven Kums already had a big opportunity after a few minutes. The midfielder, however, hit the goalie. The vocal support of the fans resulted in a great atmoshpere in Glasgow, but especially RSCA was inspired. A nice victory ended with Trebel, whose shot was saved by Gordon. At half-time, Anderlecht were the most dominant team, but they were not able to turn this in to any goals yet.
Celtic coach Rodgers put in two new players at the start of the second half, a shot by substitute Ntcham went wide. Dembélé tried to push through a few times, Boeckx had to make a save on an attempt by Forrest. After sixty minutes, Anderlecht finally got its reward: a centre by Appiah was turned into an own goal by Jozo Simunovic. Afterwards, however, an offensive streak by the Purple & White did not happen. On the other side, Simunovic and Dembélé were not able to put in the equalizer. Like this, the clock kept on ticking to the Purple & White’s disadvantage. After 92 minutes of play, the match ended in a nice 0-1 win, which unfortunately was not enough, as a result of which RSCA leaves Europe with 3 points.
Goal : 62' Simunovic (owngoal 0-1)
RSCA : Frank Boeckx, Dennis Appiah (89' Massimo Bruno), Kara Mbodji (75' Josué Sa), Uros Spajic, Ivan Obradovic, Sven Kums, Leander Dendoncker, Adrien Trebel, Pieter Gerkens (78' Lukasz Teodorczyk), Sofiane Hanni & Henry Onyekuru
