Belgian First Division: Anderlecht win again, Perisic stars

There appears to be no stopping Anderlecht, who stretched their lead in the Belgian First Division with a win over Kortrijk on Wednesday.

While bad weather accounted for Mechelen’s trip to Standard Liege, there was little holding Anderlecht back in their 2-0 away triumph.

Fresh from their 6-0 romp over Lierse on Sunday, Anderlecht had to wait just 14 minutes to take the lead against Kortrijk.

It came from the head of full-back Guillaume Gillet, who rose best to meet an inviting cross from midfield schemer Mbark Boussoufa.

Anderlecht would have stretched their lead earlier if not for the heroics of Kortrijk goalkeeper Glenn Verbauwhede, who thwarted efforts from Romelu Lukaku and Boussoufa.

But the second goal did come eventually when Anderlecht defender Jan Lecjaks tried to find Lukaku in the box, only for Rami Gershon to head the ball into his own net as he tried to clear the danger for Kortrijk.

The victory means Anderlect jump to 50 points and are clear on top of the table by seven, although second-placed Genk do have two games in hand. Kortrijk sink to eighth after their loss.

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Ivan Perisic hit four goals as Club Brugge smashed Charleroi to move into fourth on the table, while Germinal Beerschot and Eupen both edged a point further away from the relegation zone after their 0-0 stalemate.

Lierse bounced back from Sunday’s capitulation at Anderlecht with a 2-1 win over Westerlo at home, with veteran attacker Tomasz Radzinski snaring a 77th-minute winner.