On Thursday evening, RSC Anderlecht hosted Turkish side Fenerbahçe for the second leg of the Knockout Play-off in the UEFA Europa League. After a very intense match – in which Nathan De Cat made his official debut for the first team – the Mauves had to settle for a draw, thanks to a brace from Luis Vázquez. Unfortunately, this result means Sporting has been eliminated from the UEFA Europa League.
The visitors quickly took the lead. After a loss of possession in our defense, Edin Džeko set up Youssef En-Nesyri for the opening goal on a silver platter: 0-1. The match was later interrupted due to incidents in the stands. After the restart, the Turks dictated the pace of the game. Luis Vázquez came close to winning a penalty, but the referee saw no foul. Moments later, the Argentinian took advantage of a poor clearance from the opponent to beat the goalkeeper: 1-1. Just before halftime, Théo Leoni and César Huerta created some danger, but without success. Both teams went into the break with the score level.
Sporting started the second half more sharply, with an effort from Ali Maamar narrowly missing the target. A brilliant run from Thorgan Hazard set up Luis Vázquez, who made no mistake and put RSCA ahead. However, our opponents equalized again ten minutes later through Yusuf Akçiçek from a set piece: 2-2. Just after the hour mark, Lucas Hey and César Huerta were replaced by Jan Vertonghen – making his comeback from injury – and Nilson Angulo. Later, Thorgan Hazard, Luis Vázquez, and Moussa Ndiaye also made way for Keisuke Goto, Nathan De Cat, and Ludwig Augustinsson. However, the Mauves were unable to overturn the deficit from the first leg and were ultimately eliminated from the Europa League.
