Sporting Anderlecht took on Partizan Belgrado as part of the second leg of the Champions League play-offs tonight, Tuesday 24th August 2010. The first leg had ended in a 2-2 draw in Belgrado last week, but RSCA were not able to finish the job at home. In the end, they went down on penalties.

The visitors had the most scoring opportunities at the beginning of the match, through Lazevski and Cléo, but Proto was attentive and saved. After 15 minutes of play, Partizan logically opened the score, Cléo beat Proto with a header. Sporting reacted through Boussoufa, Ilic managed to turn the hard shot of the Moroccan international into a corner. Partizan’s goalie also had to make saves on long shots by Jan Polak. At half-time, however, the scoreboard still showed a 0-1 lead for the visitors.

Anderlecht immediately put pressure on the visiting team after half-time, but Jacobs’ team suddenly had to face being 0-2 down when Cléo, him again, beat Proto. Anderlecht coach Ariël Jacobs carried through a substitution after sixty minutes, Cheikhou Kouyate was replaced by Jonathan Legear. After the 0-2, RSCA started to play more freely, as a result of which the necessary tying goal was scored. Romelu Lukaku was able to put a nice cross by Polak in with a header, beyond the reach of goalie Ilic. Sporting were on track again, although Proto had to keep Iliev from scoring the 1-3 somewhat later on. A few minutes later, Biglia fed the ball to Guillaume Gillet, who brilliantly scored the 2-2. Anderlecht went on like that, a goal by Lukaku was even disallowed for offside. Eventually, the scoreboard still showed a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes, as a result of which extra time had to be played.

During extra time, the home crowd saw attempts by Boussoufa, Polak and Lukaku, but none of those players were able to beat Ilic again. After 120 minutes, then, the score was still 2-2 and penalties had to be taken... Proto managed to save no less than two penalties, but that was not enough, as three Anderlecht players missed, their penalties all went long. No Champions League for Anderlecht, then, this season, but RSCA will play the Europa League.