Group A round-up

Anderlecht and Ajax progress to Europa League last 32

Last updated: 17th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Group A round-up

Legear: On target for Belgians

Related links

Teams

Also see

Anderlecht qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League with an impressive 3-1 win at Ajax, who finish in second spot from Group A after the surprise defeat.

In the other game in the group, Dinamo Zagreb signed off their European campaign with a disappointing home loss to Timisoara.

A draw would have been enough for Anderlecht but the Belgian outfit went one better thanks to a brace from Romelu Lukaku and an effort from Jonathan Legear.

Urby Emanuelson grabbed a late consolation for Ajax but it was not enough to prevent Anderlecht claiming top spot on the head-to-head record.

On 13 minutes Mbark Boussoufa's free-kick from the left channel was met by Lukaku, who directed his header past Maarten Stekelenburg.

Lukaku doubled his personal tally midway through the first half with another header, this time getting on the end of Legear's cross from the right.

Boussoufa almost put the Belgian outfit three up five minutes before the break, but saw his fierce 30-yard attempt crash against the bar.

The third goal duly arrived a minute before the interval, Legear slotting into the bottom-right corner from close range.

The home team reduced the deficit in the 78th minute when Siem De Jong fed Emanuelson, who coolly found the bottom-left corner with his shot.

Dinamo Zagreb's European adventure came to an end for another season as they were beaten at home by Timisoara in their final Europa League encounter.

The result was ultimately academic with Anderlecht beating Ajax but the hosts will be unhappy at failing to defeat the perceived group minnows on home turf.

The Croatians fell behind when Gheorghe Bucur opened the scoring for the hosts midway through the second period but parity was restored when Cristian Scutaru put through his own net inside the final 10 minutes.

Timisoara dug deep to find a second goal as Dorin Goga lashed home six minutes from time to secure the Romanians their first victory in the group stage.

Click Here for Your Free Bet