Muslic had to shift into his defense due to the injured Utkus and the suspended Daland and Popovic. The Bruges coach gave 19-year-old Jonas Lietaert a chance alongside Ravych and Siquet. For the purple and white, Delaney returned to the starting line-up in place of Amuzu.
Anderlecht had an excellent opportunity to consolidate its leading position with two matches against Cercle Brugge, but it was the Association that started the match best. The Brussels team had to allow Denkey to approach Schmeichel after just over twenty seconds, but fortunately for the Purple & White, the Danish number one was well awake. After the missed start, the Purple & White struggled a bit more in the game, but without really creating big opportunities. Both teams produced kilos of waste in their game, leaving the neutral viewer somewhat disappointed.
But in no time the Purple & White had taken a double lead. First, Leoni (31.) used some stunts and flying to squeeze through the Cercle defense and put the opening goal wide of Warleson, two minutes later Dolberg Dreyer (33.) made it 2-0. The subsequent injury to the Danish wing attacker put a damper on the celebration.
The wave of injuries appeared to rage even further through Lotto Park, as Coosemans had to replace Schmeichel at the start of the second half. The debutant saw his colleague Warleson make a huge blunder on the other side, from which Leoni (57.) took full advantage. 3-0, also the final score.
Anderlecht maintains its two-point lead over Club Brugge in the standings. Blauw-zwart won 4-0 against Racing Genk. On Sunday afternoon (4 p.m.) Anderlecht and Cercle will face each other again in the Jan Breydel Stadium.