anderlecht out after bate stalemate published: thursday 7 august 2008 fc bate borisov 2-2 rsc anderlecht (agg: 4-3) the belarussian champions completed a famous triumph after holding off ten-man anderlecht at home.
by dennis orlov
fc bate borisov moved a step closer to the uefa champions league group stage after holding ten-man rsc anderlecht to a 2-2 draw at home, thus completing a famous 4-3 aggregate victory.
bliznyuk injury having succumbed 2-1 in brussels last week, ariël jacobs's men needed to register at least twice to stand a chance of progressing, and they began the match in hungry mood. the game's first goal came against the run of play, however, with gennadi bliznyuk turning in vitali rodionov's low cross with 18 minutes gone. bate's most formidable striker, bliznyuk had just returned from injury but was forced to leave the pitch after colliding with anderlecht goalkeeper daniel zítka as he scored.
late equaliser the visitors gave themselves a lifeline five minutes later, when sergei sosnovski's clumsy challenge on roland juhász allowed lucas biglia to equalise from the penalty spot, and they could easily have gone ahead had goalkeeper sergei veremko failed to save from jan polák and mbark boussoufa in the first half. instead, anderlecht defender nemanja rnić collected a second yellow card on 71 minutes and bate were ahead again 12 minutes later, with rodionov rounding off good work from sergei kryvets and pavel nekhaychik. there was still time for polák to draw level in the 86th minute, but the belgian titans could not muster the extra goal they required as time ticked away.
