Belgian First Division: Boussoufa fires Anderlecht

A Mbark Boussoufa-inspired Anderlecht hit Lierse for six in Sunday’s Belgian First Division action.

The Moroccan attacker was at his very best, scoring two and providing three more as Anderlecht thumped Lierse 6-0 and extended their lead atop the league to four points.

Boussoufa’s fourth-minute corner was headed home by Roland Juhasz to give the hosts an early lead, before the midfielder’s free-kick led to teenage sensation Romelu Lukaku’s goal.

Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima tipped the terrific set piece onto the post but the 17-year-old striker followed up and tapped in for his 10th goal of the season.

Poland defender Marcin Wasilewski added to the lead with a penalty on the hour-mark and 10 minutes later Boussoufa got on the scoresheet after he held off attention from Lierse’s Kurt van Dooren before firing past Kawashima.

Another Boussoufa free-kick led to the fifth goal, with Argentine striker Pablo Chavarria scoring with a far-post header before the man of the moment wrapped up the demolition job with his second goal and ninth of the season in injury time.

The result extended Anderlecht’s unbeaten run in the league to 10 matches and means Lierse remain second from bottom, with just one win from 21 matches.

Club Brugge moved to fourth with a 2-0 away win at Gent.

Fresh from two home defeats, the visitors came out firing and took a 24th-minute lead when Croatian Ivan Perisic scored his seventh goal of the season.

Just nine minutes later, they doubled the lead thanks to Dorge Rostand Kouemaha. Brugge held onto their two-goal advantage for the remainder of the game despite the second-half sending off of Nabil Dirar.

In the day’s other match, Reynaldo’s first-half goal gave Cercle Brugge a 1-0 win over 10-man Standard Liege, while four games were postponed due to inclement weather.