On a weekend of cup action, Anderlecht were one of two top flight sides on the end of a cup set. Vitor Bruno’s side lost 2-1 away to second tier side Beerschot as Anas Haj Mohamed scored twice for the promotion chasing side. After a defeat in the Europa League away to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, it has not been a great week for Bruno and his Anderlecht side. A 3-0 victory over Zulte Waregem before the international break had given reason to expect that things were starting to come together under the head coach who was appointed in the summer. Yet a lucky win against Cercle Brugge in the league, followed by these two defeats, has seen the pressure mount on Bruno once again.
The former Porto head coach did not want to consider the current situation as being a ‘crisis’. Speaking to the media after the defeat to Beerschot, Bruno said ‘We didn’t deserve to lose. Even with ten men against eleven, we were brave enough to put Beerschot with their backs against the wall‘. Whether that will fly with an Anderlecht fan base that has deal with a lot of mediocrity since Vincent Kompany was allowed to leave a number of seasons ago remains to be seen.
When pressed by the media if this situation was a crisis, Bruno responded by saying ‘Because we lost in the last minute in Zagreb and were undeservedly eliminated from the cup today? No, for me this is not a crisis. We could make a big drama out of this elimination, but I’m not going to do that‘.
With how strong Club Brugge and Union St Gilloise look in comparison to Anderlecht, and the form Gent are showing to start the season, Anderlecht are already playing catch up in a title race barely anyone expected them to be part of. With the Europa League also an unlikely source of silverware, the domestic cup was always going to be a competition Anderlecht could have targeted. This defeat to Beerschot may well mean that Anderlecht are facing another trophyless season.