Union Saint-Gilloise defeated Anderlecht 3:0 at the Stade Joseph Marien on Sunday in the fourth round of the Jupiler Pro League. The hosts controlled the tempo from the opening exchanges and took all three points with goals from B. Zeneli, M. Biondic and R. Florucz. Anderlecht arrived with momentum from back-to-back 3:0 victories but found themselves outplayed on home soil. By then the visitors were already behind, though they did not yet know how far behind they would end up.
B. Zeneli opened the scoring in the thirty-eighth minute after a sharp movement inside the box. Union Saint-Gilloise had been probing the left channel for several minutes, and the finish came after a quick combination play. «And here's the thing», the goal arrived just before the hour mark when attention tends to wander. Anderlecht's defence struggled to contain the width, and Zeneli made no mistake when the chance presented itself.
M. Biondic doubled the advantage in the forty-fifth minute, extending the lead before the break. The home side had pushed forward again, and this time the finish was clinical. To be fair, Anderlecht had created more attacks overall, but the quality of their chances did not match Union Saint-Gilloise's efficiency. Zeneli's goal had set the pattern, and Biondic simply repeated it with a touch more composure.
R. Florucz completed the scoring in the eighty-first minute after a period of sustained pressure. Anderlecht made four substitutions around the seventieth minute in an attempt to change the game, but the visitors could not find a response. «By then» the result was already decided, and the remaining minutes passed without incident. Union Saint-Gilloise saw out the game without conceding, which suited them perfectly.
The statistics told a different story from the scoreline. Anderlecht had 109 attacks to 107 and 54% possession, yet managed only 2 shots on target compared with 7 for the hosts. Shots accuracy sat at 17% for the visitors and 47% for Union Saint-Gilloise, which explained the disparity in goals. Big chances created showed 1 for Anderlecht against 2 for the hosts, and the conversion rate spoke for itself.
Union Saint-Gilloise moved to sixth place with 7 points from 3 games, while Anderlecht dropped to eleventh with 3 points. The home side had shown resilience after their draw with Brugge and loss to Bodo/Glimt earlier in the campaign. Anderlecht's recent form had looked impressive, but this result reminded everyone that cup football has its own rules. The gap between the two sides in the table widened, and both managers will have questions to answer.