Archive 2009-2010
After missing the title up to two times, expectations for the season 2009-2010 were high for vice-champions Anderlecht. The league started well for the team from Brussels, they won the first four matches. Anderlecht scored ten goals during those games and only took two. On the fifth match day, the top match against Standard took place… That game, however, turned into an ordinary battle, of which Jan Polak and Marcin Wasilewski suffered the consequences. Polak ripped his anterior cruciate ligaments after a kick by De Camargo and Wasyl received a frightful kick from Witsel and sustained a double open fracture of the leg… The entire club was dreadfully cut up by it and it took Purple-White until halfway through October to get back on track. Of the four matches that were played during the time in between, Sporting lost 2 (away against STVV and Club Bruges), drew once (at home against Ghent) and beat GB at home with the smallest difference. But Purple-White pulled themselves together and won no less than eight matches in a row after that. Like that, Anderlecht’s team, with a few young players who showed their talent, became winter break champions and had a three-point lead over first pursuers Club Bruges at the end of December.
In January, Anderlecht showed what they were after from match 1 on: the title. With a nice 0-4 win on the pitch of rivals Standard, Sporting pushed the team from Liège further away and put the Rouches 20 points behind them on the general league table. One week later on, Anderlecht showed the same spirit when they beat Germinal Beerschot 0-5. But after that, things became more difficult for the Purple-White team. Sporting did manage to turn a 1-2 score on their own field against Club Bruges into a 3-2 victory - thanks to, among other things, a brilliant goal by Mbark Boussoufa in the final minute of the match - but one week later, they finally suffered their first defeat of 2010. They lost to STVV for the second time this season. This time, Sporting lost 1-2 on their own field. This only turned out to be a minor setback for Ariël Jacobs’s team, as the team from Brussels switched over and took a perfect 15 out of 15 points before the start of the play-offs: during five matches, they scored no less than 12 times and only took one goal. Like that, Anderlecht concluded the regular competition with 12 points on first pursuers Club Bruges. As the lead was cut in half at the start of the play-offs, Sporting were able to start the final stage of the JPL with a six-point lead on the team from West-Flanders…
In the play-offs, Purple-White immediately started with a few clear results. Zulte Waregem, for instance, were sent home 6-0 after the first match and, a few days later on, Sporting won 1-3 on the field of Ghent. Against Club Bruges, a 2-0 lead eventually became a 2-2 draw and, on the pitch of STVV, Anderlecht did not manage to win either (1-1), but both draws did not endanger the title, as the team from Bruges were not able to take all of the points they needed either. On Sunday 18th April, it finally happened: a victory on the field of rivals Club Bruges provided RSCA with their 30th title ever… Jelle Van Damme and Matias Suarez scored, Anderlecht won 1-2 and the deserved 30th title was a fact! A title which Sporting added some glory to one week later on at home, by sending AA Ghent home 4-2 after an exciting match! Anderlecht eventually became the clear champions, Ghent fought their way to second place, as a result of which Club Bruges were left with third place.
The season 2009-2010 did not bring the Belgian double for Purple-White. The Cup adventure came to and end in the quarterfinals. In the round of 32 (2-0 against Verviers) and the round of 16 (3-0 against Dender) everything went smoothly, but coach Ariël Jacobs’s team did not make it to the semis. Anderlecht were stopped by Cercle Bruges (2-1 at home, 1-0 away). Cercle did make it to the final, where they had to leave the Cup to AA Ghent (0-3).
Where the European season 2008-2009 was a disaster, 2009-2010 became a success. Anderlecht started the competition in the third preliminary of the Champions League against Turkish vice-champions Sivasspor. A year ago, things went completely wrong against Bate Borisov, but this time Purple-White were completely ready. Before Sivasspor knew it, the board at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium showed a 5-0 score after 90’. The second leg, then, was a mere formality (3-1 victory for Sivasspor). The draw for the play-off match to reach the CL put Sporting against the French Lyon. The French team’s level turned out to be to high for Purple-White. They heavily lost in Lyon: 5-1. They also lost at home (1-3).
Europa League, then, for Ariël Jacobs’s lads. Anderlecht found themselves in a group with Dinamo Zagreb, Timisoara and Ajax Amsterdam. Sporting played some nice matches during the group stage, with a 0-2 victory at Zagreb and a nice 1-3 win on the pitch of Ajax. The latter win, for that matter, provided Purple-White with qualification and victory in group A. In the round of 32 Anderlecht encountered the Spanish Athletic Club Bilbao. The first leg ended in a nice 1-1 draw in San Mames, but in the second leg, Sporting finished the job by sending Athletic back to the Basque country 4-0 after a magnificent match. In the round of 16, the German Hamburg awaited… Anderlecht lost the first leg 3-1, but, in the second leg, Jacobs’s team put down a nice achievement. Sporting won 4-3, which was not enough to qualify, but did conclude the brilliant European campaign in a nice way.
The Purple-White U21 team also had a good year. Like the first team, they took the championship title 2009-2010. Coach Johan Walem’s team started the season with a nice 21 out of 21 points. They would eventually win 18 of their 30 matches, draw 9 times and lose three times. They won the championship with 57 points, scored 61 times and took 34 goals.
Sporting Anderlecht’s Ladies finished fifth during the season 2009-2010, just like the year before. The Ladies took 48 points, won 15 out of 26 matches and eventually finished 20 points behind champions Sint-Truiden. Sporting Anderlecht’s Ladies scored 86 times and took 38 goals. In the Belgian Cup, the Ladies reached the finals, but, after penalties, they lost to Sinaai Girls, who won the Cup for the second year in a row.
