mpenza caps thrilling comeback published: thursday 14 february 2008, 0.12cet rsc anderlecht 2-1 fc girondins de bordeaux mbo mpenza chose a fine time to score only his second goal since july after his 95th-minute strike secured victory.
mbo mpenza scored five minutes into added time as rsc anderlecht completed a sterling comeback to beat fc girondins de bordeaux 2-1 in brussels.
deserved win the home side's evening looked destined to end in disappointment when jussiê gave in-form bordeaux a lead their performance had barely merited from the penalty spot with less than a quarter of the game remaining. yet ariel jacobs' team displayed impressive composure, and, after initially shoring up, jan polák made it 1-1 with eleven minutes remaining to set up a thrilling finale in which the 31-year-old mpenza guided in jonathan legear's cross after the visitors lost possession in midfield.
determination an anderlecht win had seemed on the cards since the kick-off as they started with genuine desire and force, overly so at times as just five minutes had gone when roland juhász was booked for bringing down alou diarra. bordeaux had won eight out of their last nine games in all competitions going into the game at the constant vanden stock stadium, but they had little answer to the home side's aggression and marcin wasilewski and polák both squandered decent first-half opportunities, the latter firing over with the goal at his mercy.
shock lead anderlecht began the second period with similar vim yet out of the blue bordeaux – who had hitherto mustered only a solitary long-range from gabriel obertan that went well wide – took the lead when fernando cavenaghi was brought down by juhász. jussiê sent daniel zítka the wrong way from the spot, though it merely fed anderlecht's hunger, and they gained just reward when polák fired in after souleymane diawara had failed to clear. substitute mpenza then chose a fine time to register only his second goal since july, meaning anderlecht will take a narrow lead to bordeaux in eight days.
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