Dinamo beat Anderlecht 1-0 in the second round of the Europa League, with Dion Drena Beljo scoring the only goal from the penalty spot in the 96th minute. It was Dinamo’s first goal in this season’s Europa League, after a goalless draw with Israel’s Hapoel in the opening round.
Dinamo started strongly and pressed the visitors from the first whistle. Anderlecht soon settled, however, and there were good chances at both ends in the first half.
Luka Stojković had the first in the 15th minute. Left unmarked after a Hoxha cross, he was in an excellent position ten meters from goal, but the ball took an awkward spin off an Anderlecht defender and he could not make clean contact.
What followed was a spell in which Anderlecht could easily have scored more than once. In the 21st minute the Belgian side hit the crossbar twice in the same attack, with Dinamo goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski getting a touch to the second effort.
In the 28th minute Tristan Degreef shot from close range, unmarked, but Kotarski again reacted superbly to keep it out. Dinamo responded towards the end of the half, when Iker Almena found himself well placed from a cut-back but failed to hit the target.
Dinamo created three very good chances in the second half. The best fell to Arber Hoxha in the 81st minute, who was through on goal before Anderlecht full-back Barry got back to knock the ball away from behind him. The home side still found a winner at the death.
Substitute Dani Rodríguez struck the arm of Anderlecht left-back Oleg Reabciuk, and after a VAR review Dinamo were awarded a penalty, which Beljo sent down the middle.
The goal and the win go a long way to improving the picture for Dinamo. They are now 14th in the table, a play-off place, with six matches still to play in the league phase. For Anderlecht, it was a second defeat in this season’s Europa League.
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