Timişoara - Anderlecht - 2009

Anderlecht had the better of the chances in their scoreless Europa League match against Timisoara at "Dan Paltinisanu" Stadium. Ajax's defeat of Dinamo Zagreb means the Dutch side join Anderlecht at the top of Group A on five points, with three matches remaining. The Romanians are still propping up the four-man group with two points - one behind Dinamo - but still harbour hopes of qualification. The first chance of the game came just past the 10-minute mark when Anderlecht 's Lucas Biglia's right-foot shot from 18 yards went wide of Costel Pantilimon's goal. The hosts first threatened in the 32nd minute, and Artavazd Karamian should have done better than head over from close range. Anderlecht responded less than two minutes later when Kanu's header from Mbark Boussoufa was also headed over from six yards. Pantilimon made the game's first save of note just six minutes before the interval when he punched Boussoufa's free-kick to safety. The Belgian side finished the half strongly and would have had the advantage had Romelu Lukaku's not fired his right-foot shot from close range over in the 41st minute. Karamian's 51st-minute effort from 35 yards went wide of Silvio Proto's goal - and less than two minutes later at the other end, Boussoufa was similarly off target with an effort from 20 yards. When Anderlecht 's Olivier Deschacht fouled Bonfim Eder 20 yards out, it presented the home side with an opportunity to break the deadlock. But Karamian's left-footed free-kick sailed over the bar. Inside the last 20 minutes, the hosts introduced Winston Parks and Alexandru Curtean at the expense of Gheorghe Bucur and Arman Karamian - Lukas Magera replacing Dan Alexa in a similar attacking move with 10 minutes remaining. But the change of personnel made no difference to the scoreline - and Anderlecht , who also made three changes in the second half, went closest to sealing the victory in the closing stages. Boussoufa had an 82nd-minute shot saved - and although Artavazd Karamian saw an 87th-minute effort parried by Proto, Pantilimon needed to be at his best to keep out a long-range effort from Deschacht soon afterwards.

Ioan Ovidiu Sabău, coach of FC Timisoara: "I liked the first half, the way we started the game, because we had the initiative, rhythm, opportunities to score. The first half belonged to us. The second one was more balanced, with less goal opportunities. In the locker room I felt the desire and ambition of the players to win. We had problems at the middle of the field, where some players ceded physically, so in some moments the team was broken in two. It is a lucky point for Anderlecht , because we had more opportunities and we should win".