RSC Anderlecht will play in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League after beating Villareal 1-0 on Thursday evening. The Spanish side had made it to the semi-finals of last season's Champions League.
Given the Brussels team's difficult league campaign, where they currently sit tenth after going through two head coaches, few would have expected them to get as far as they have in Europe, making it to the Europa Conference League's round of 16.
Having held Villareal to a 1-1 draw at home, RSC Anderlecht sought to play it safe in the away leg and managed to keep their Spanish opponents at bay in the first half. However, the game started to open up for the Brussels side at the start of the second half with right-back Michael Murillo missing a chance to put them ahead.
Half an hour later, Murillo made it up for his miss by setting up Anderlecht's latest signing Islam Slimani to score 1-0, a lead they held onto until the final whistle thanks to their goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen's heroics.
Anderlecht will find out who their next opponents are on Friday. They could face Belgian league rivals Gent who have also made it to the quarter-finals.
