anderlecht stumble but still march on published: tuesday 4 august 2009, 23.45cet
sivasspor 3-1 rsc anderlecht (agg: 3-6)
the turkish side gave anderlecht a scare with two early strikes but jelle van damme's goal ended home hopes of an unlikely fightback.
sivasspor gave it a good go but it was ariel jacobs' rsc anderlecht who progressed to the uefa champions league play-off round, the cushion of their 5-0 first-leg win enabling them to survive falling 3-1 in turkey.
early scare if the visitors from belgium thought that last week's emphatic home victory had all but sealed the tie, they were made to think again by sivasspor who opened up a 2-0 lead within 20 minutes. however, jelle van damme's 34th-minute effort settled any nerves anderlecht might have had and even though aydın musa added a third for the hosts after the break, the prospect of a dramatic fightback petered out in the closing stages.
van damme strikes bülent uygun's sivasspor started in determined fashion, keen to make amends for their first-leg drubbing. ersen martin gave them the perfect start in the 12th minute and just seven minutes later they were two goals to the good, yannick kamanan converting a penalty. with the tie suddenly alive, the onus was on anderlecht to respond and van damme struck to give them a vital away goal. sivasspor now needed another five goals to progress and they managed just one, aydın netting in the 58th minute as anderlecht saw out the remainder of the contest with no further alarms.
