A huge win for the Belgian side, which all but stamped their ticket for the next round.
Panathinaikos were favorites for this match, both because they were playing at home and because of what we saw them do against Roma. The individual quality of their players also seemed step above the Belgians, but none of that mattered for this match. Standard did everything textbook right, managing to close down the space between their midfield and their defense and scaring their opponent’s defensive line with well organized counterattacks.
Standard scored early, with a good effort by Witsel. Jovanovic made it 0-2 for Anderlecht when scarcely 15 minutes had passed. Panathinaikos piled on the pressure but didn’t manage to break the Belgian defense in the first half. But early in the second half, Loukas Vyntra pulled one back for the Greeks and lifted the hopes of the packed stadium. But Standard reacted well to the goal and pulled together. Igor De Camargo even managed to widen the gap for the Greeks, making it 1-3 at full time.
It’ll be interesting to see Pana go at it in Belgium, but if Anderlecht play with their full wits they should relatively easily move onto the next stage.
