Union fall short against Anderlecht after early goal

In a sold-out Lotto Park, Union had the chance to increase their lead over Club Brugge from four to seven points. The derby started at a fiery pace with plenty of duels. Union pressed high in the opening minutes, but despite the tempo it took a while before the first shot on target arrived.

Anderlecht threatened for the first time on a counterattack. Down the left, Angulo wriggled his way between two Union defenders. The Ecuadorian unleashed a shot that took a deflection and, with a bit of luck, looped past Scherpen into the far corner: 1–0.

In the 15th minute, Ait El Hadj played the ball first-time into the path of David. In a one-on-one situation, the Canadian raced towards goal, but the angle proved too tight and his effort was saved by goalkeeper Coosemans.

Union responded shortly after. A through ball found Florucz, who broke into the box. The Austrian tried to shift the ball onto his left foot, but Sardella denied him with a last-ditch tackle, sending the ball out of play.

Just before half-time, Union survived a scare. Anderlecht countered through Camara, who skipped past Sykes’ challenge before colliding with Niang inside the penalty area. Anderlecht fans appealed for a penalty, but referee Verboomen waved the claims away, judging the contact insufficient.

Anderlecht came out of the dressing room stronger. Angulo danced past the defence and won a corner. Cvetkovic got his head to it, but his effort posed no danger for Scherpen, who collected comfortably.

After several yellow cards, Hubert made a triple substitution, and Union began to take control. In the 55th minute, they earned a corner. Ait El Hadj swung it in, but Sykes headed over. The biggest Union chance fell to substitute Patris, who burst down the right but was too heavily impeded by N’Diaye to get a clean strike away. The ball ended in the side netting.

Anderlecht then had the chance to double the lead. Hazard broke free behind the defence and ran through on goal. Mac Allister tried to disrupt him, but the ball reached Bertaccini, who miskicked and squandered the opportunity.

Union pushed forward in a final onslaught and created some danger, but nothing truly threatening. Both sides remained solid at the back, and Union couldn’t overturn the deficit. They do, however, remain four points ahead of Club Brugge in the league standings.