Bart Verbruggen was the star for Anderlecht as the Mauves beat Oostende 2-0 away from home on Friday night. The 20-year-old Dutch goalkeeper made four crucial saves to keep the home side from getting back into the game. It was Verbruggen’s saves that kept the score at 1-0, with Anderlecht only making the game safe when Anders Dreyer got his first goal for the club in the 89th minute. Michael Murillo scored the first goal after a defensive mix-up from a corner allowed him far too much space in the box to tap home.
The Brussels club are now unbeaten in three games, despite playing far from convincing football. Two of these wins came against relegation threatened sides like Oostende and RFC Seraing. The other was against an inform Antwerp, suggesting that the side can still compete on their day with the better sides in Belgium.
Deadline day signing Islam Slimani made his debut in the second half, and despite only playing 20 odd minutes the striker showed that he will be able to link the play well if given the ball to feet. His hold-up play helped relieve pressure on the defence when Oostende were pushing for an equaliser.
Oostende on the other hand have now gone nine games without a win and are sinking further towards relegation. The relegation threatened side have now conceded 53 goals in just 24 games, For context, in 34 games last season they conceded 61, just eight more than this season with 10 more games to go. While a win against Anderlecht, even in their current predicament, would not have been envisioned before the game, their next fixture is a cliched relegation six pointer against Zulte Waregem. Failure to win that one could all but seal their relegation from the Belgian Pro League.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
