RSC Anderlecht – Union SG : 1-3

For their first match of the year for 2023, Union Saint-Gilloise began the second half of the season on the ground of their Brussels rivals, Anderlecht. The Unionists had yet to lose a derby since rising to the Premier League and were hoping to keep that record after Sunday night’s encounter.

The Brussels derby began with a lot of intensity, a large number of physical duels, and few chances. After a long VAR intervention, Van Driessche gave N’Daiye a red card as Anderlecht found themselves down to ten men in the opening 10 minutes. Union tried to take advantage of it but failed to open up the scoring.

The biggest chance for Union came after 20 minutes. Adingra set up his shot, but Verbruggen prevented him from scoring. At the half-hour mark, Nieuwkoop also tried his luck after a fine cross from Vanzeir, but slipped when the shot was taken. The derby lived up to its promise in terms of intensity and as a result, the referee gave numerous yellow cards to both teams. Nieuwkoop shot again before the break, but Verbruggen knocked the ball wide.

L’attribut alt de cette image est vide, son nom de fichier est Belgaimage-57980189-1024x683.jpg.

Union couldn’t take control of the game after half-time. Silva broke the deadlock as he placed the ball at the near post, 1-0 Anderlecht (63′). The substitutions of Lapoussin and Puertas would eventually impact the game for our Unionists. After a through pass from Lynen, Puertas equalized. 1-1 (81′). Six minutes later, the roles were reversed as Puertas was the one to assist Lynen in the 87^th minute of the match. Union took a further advantage when Adingra killed the game by making it 1-3 (90′).

Union has won the Brussels derby for the sixth time in a row as the party began for every Unionist present at Lotto Park!

Our next fixture takes place on Thursday 12/01 at 8:45 p.m. against the Gantoise at the Stade Joseph Marien.

Allez l’Union !