Anderlecht progress in style

RSC Anderlecht had little trouble making their way into the third round of the UEFA Cup with a 3-0 away win against FC Midtjylland that sealed a comfortable 6-1 aggregate victory.

Stylish short-passing
Despite trailing 3-1 from the first leg, the Danish hosts showed plenty of determination in the opening stages. They pinned the Belgians inside their own half with a stylish short-passing game that was rewarded after seven minutes when Frank Kristensen was brought down in the box by Finnish defender Hannu Tihinen. However, Danish goalkeeper Peter Skov-Jensen's weak penalty proved no problem for his counterpart Daniel Zitka, who saved with ease.

Visitors strike back
Anderlecht were quick to take advantage of the missed penalty and struck in the eleventh minute when Ki-Hyeon Seol stole free of the Midtjylland defence for the opening goal following a corner by Walter Baseggio.

Visibly deflated
Midtjylland were visibly deflated by the strike and Anderlecht seized the initiative to take control of midfield and could have doubled their lead before the break as long-range shots from Baseggio and Bertrand Crasson narrowly failed to find the target.

Dindane exciting
The visitors continued to dominate after the break with the 21-year-old Ivory Coast forward Aruna Dindane prominent in attack. The talented youngster showed plenty of skill as he tormented the home defence on numerous occasions as Midtjylland were overrun.

Jestrovic on target
Accordingly, it was no surprise when Anderlecht doubled their lead eight minutes from time as Skov-Jensen failed to get down to a shot from Nenad Jestrovic who had just come on to the field as a substitute for Seol.

Dismal night
Then, with seconds remaining, Skov-Jensen was guilty of another error when he raced out of his box only for Dindane to beat him to the ball and place it neatly into the empty goal to complete a dismal night for the hosts.