5 – 1
“Mateo Biondic broke the deadlock with a header, opening the scoring to give Union Saint-Gilloise an early lead that immediately put Anderlecht on the back foot.”
Pivotal“Kevin Rodríguez doubled Union's advantage just three minutes after the opener, burying a right-footed effort to make it 2-0 and signal that this was going to be a very long afternoon for Anderlecht.”
Pivotal“Ross Sykes added a fifth goal to complete Union's comprehensive victory, converting after Anan Khalaili's blocked effort kept the pressure on a depleted Anderlecht defence.”
“Substitute Ibrahim Kanaté pulled one back for Anderlecht to make it 5-1, providing the only moment of consolation for the visiting supporters in what had been an otherwise chastening afternoon.”
Union Saint-Gilloise
Anderlecht
Outstanding performance
Union Saint-Gilloise•MidfielderUnion Saint-Gilloise were utterly ruthless from the first whistle, turning a fierce Brussels derby into a humiliation for Anderlecht inside 45 minutes. Marco Kana's yellow card at 16' set a feisty tone, but it was Union who channelled the aggression into goals — Biondic headed them in front at 18', Kevin Rodríguez doubled the lead three minutes later, and by the time Anouar Ait El Hadj made it 3-0 on 32' and Anan Khalaili added a fourth on 42', the match was already a rout. Thorgan Hazard's red card in first-half stoppage time compounded Anderlecht's misery, and Ross Sykes buried a fifth at 59' to complete the humiliation, with Ibrahim Kanaté's consolation on 75' offering only cosmetic relief. The statistics tell the full story of Union's dominance: 67% possession, 22 shots to Anderlecht's nine, seven big chances created to Anderlecht's one, and a dominance score of 76 to 37 — this was a complete performance that will resonate deeply in the Belgian top flight with serious implications for both clubs' end-of-season standings.
How entertaining was this match?
Mohammed Fuseini takes a left-footed shot, but it's blocked.
Mats Rits takes a left-footed shot but misses.
Lucas Hey takes a right-footed shot, but it's blocked.
Marco Kana's right-footed shot is blocked.
Ousseynou Niang replaces Guilherme Smith.
Ibrahim KanatéIbrahim Kanate takes a shot with his right foot and scores.
Guillaume Francois comes on for Anan Khalaili.
Ross Sykes takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Marco Kana comes on for Adriano Bertaccini.
Ivan Pavlic comes on for Adem Zorgane.
Fedde Leysen replaces Kevin Mac Allister.
Mohammed Fuseini is on, and Kevin Rodriguez is off.
Anouar Ait El Hadj takes a right-footed shot, but it's saved.
Ross SykesRoss Sykes scores with a header.
assist: Besfort Zeneli
Goal! Ross Sykes scores, making it 5-0.
Anan Khalaili's left-footed shot is blocked.
Alexander de Ridder comes on for Nathan De Cat.
Yari Verschaeren replaces Danylo Sikan.
Kevin Rodriguez takes a left-footed shot but misses.
Adem Zorgane takes a right-footed shot, but it is saved.
Kevin Rodriguez takes a right-footed shot, but it's blocked.
Mats Rits comes on for Nathan Saliba.
Kevin Rodriguez takes a shot with his head, but it is blocked.
The first half ends with a score of 4-0.
Anan KhalailiAnan Khalaili takes a shot with his right foot and scores.
Mateo Biondic's header is saved.
Thorgan Hazard takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Kevin Rodriguez takes a left-footed shot, but it's saved.
Killian Sardella takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Anouar Ait El HadjAnouar Ait El Hadj takes a right-footed shot and scores.
Mateo Biondic takes a left-footed shot, but it's blocked.
assist: Kevin Rodríguez
Goal! Anouar Ait El Hadj scores, making it 3-0.
Kevin Rodriguez takes a shot with his right foot and scores.
assist: Besfort Zeneli
Goal! Kevin Rodriguez scores, making it 2-0.
Mateo Biondic takes a left-footed shot but misses.
Mateo BiondicMateo Biondic scores with a header.
Anan Khalaili takes a left-footed shot but misses.
Marco KanaYellow CardMarco Kana receives a yellow card.
Kevin Rodriguez takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Thorgan Hazard takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Nathan De Cat's right-footed shot is saved.
Anouar Ait El Hadj takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Adriano Bertaccini takes a right-footed shot, but it's saved.
Anan Khalaili takes a left-footed shot, but it is blocked.
Kevin Mac Allister takes a right-footed shot but misses.
Union Saint-Gilloise welcome fierce Brussels rivals Anderlecht to Stade Joseph Mariën in a high-stakes Champions Playoff derby. With Union having dominated this fixture recently — including a 3-1 win at Anderlecht and a Belgian Cup triumph — the purple-and-white side desperately need a response to close the gap in the standings.
