RSC Anderlecht suffered a 2-1 defeat on the eighth match day in the Jupiler Pro League on Sunday against newly promoted Westerlo.
The home team took the lead via Igor Vetokele in the 6th minute, but Anderlecht's Sebastiano Esposito managed to equalise in the 70th minute. Westerlo's Halil Akbunar struck on 83 minutes to take all three points.
Former Tottenham Hotspur player Nacer Chadli made his debut today for Westerlo. Having also played for Anderlecht in the 2019/2020 season, he saw his old club fall behind after six minutes. A nice combination between Westerlo's Foster and De Cuyper then found Vetokele, who beat keeper Van Crombrugge.
Moments later, the Anderlecht goalkeeper saved another attempt by Chadli which nearly made it 2-0. Anderlecht, without the injured Jan Vertonghen, also saw a shot by Foster’s shot go just wide.
Felice Mazzù’s team were lucky on several occasions in the second half. Dierckx decided on Van Crombrugge’s legs.
Just after Nene hit the bar, an Anderlecht goal came out of nowhere. The Italian substitute Esposito outwitted Westerlo goalkeeper Bolat with a clever move.
Westerlo celebrates after winning a soccer match between KVC Westerlo and RSC ANderlecht, Sunday 11 September 2022 in Westerlo, on day 8 of the 2022-2023 'Jupiler Pro League' first division of the Belgian championship. Credit: Belga / Tom Goyvaerts
Westerlo, however, did not give in. After a response by Vaesen, the home side finally managed to get the winning goal after a well-played counter. De Cuyper found substitute Akbunar in the front, who slotted the ball past Van Crombrugge into the Anderlecht net.
The Brussels team are in 9th place in the standings with 10 points. Westerlo climbs to 12th place with 9 points.
