Post-clash reactions came from Simon Mignolet, Hans Vanaken, Bjorn Meijer and coach Ronny Deila.
Simon Mignolet: “No surprise to see it happen again”
Club conceded two late goals, leaving it empty handed. Simon Mignolet realises the team urgently needs to address the elephant in the room.
“A setback and a disappointment. Again we do not get what we deserved, but on the other hand, it comes as no surprise to see this happen again. There are reasons for it, and it quickly needs to get dealt with. Conceding goals in the last minutes and not being able to retain a lead. It's not the first time this happens, it also happened against Antwerp and Kortrijk. This needs to change, you can't win any big games like this. We have trouble retaining possession up front when we're in the lead. When you want to keep the others from creating chances, you have to retain possession. You know they have the type of players they can bring on in the last few minutes. With all those games, we are at the end of our powers , it's something we have to accept. We try to hold on to that lead, and try to still make something of it when they equalised. Maybe we should have held onto that 1-1 instead of conceding that late goal. We need to recharge quickly now, as another big game awaits on Wednesday. That's where another objective lies: going to the Cup Final. That's the up side on playing so many games, you have to shift gears quickly. You can talk about the title and where we stand in the table, but right now we just have to win games and take the points. The rest will come by itself, not the oher way round."
It's time to put the heads together and try to get out of this deadlock. "We need to consider things realistically and objectively in order to find a solution. Mentions of a crisis is just looking at things in a negative way, that's not how we ride. We are doing well in those other two competitions, but in the league we now just have to reel in the points. It calls of effectiveness and efficiency. We all play our part in this, we need to get through this together. It's not the first time this has happened, it has happened before. We need to get back on track where we are in control. As to the title, we depend on other teams' results too much.” (KN)
Hans Vanaken: “Another game, another bout of unnecessary point loss“
It's starting to become a recurring theme: a blow by the absolute end of the game, and a disheartened Hans Vanaken in the mixed zone.
“A bitter pill to swallow, and hard to get over, particularly as once again it comes with unnecessar point loss. How come? I feel like we lacked putting forward pressure after sixty minutes and pulled back too much. You just know they are going to try and get that ball inside the box, and that's how that equaliser came about. The ball always went their way, which was not the case for us. We still had a number of slight chances through Nusa and Skov Olsen, but in the end that just wasn't enough”.
When asked whether Anderlecht has outsmarted Club in a tactical respect, Hans was clear: “I don't think so, we had a thorough analysis prior to the game. There weren't that many clear chances, not for us either. We took a 1-0 lead, but once again we couldn't hold on to that lead because we didn't put enough forward pressure. Still, we need to put this behind us and soldier on, as another tough game awaits at Union on Wednesday.” (MV)
Bjorn Meijer: “Play our own game“
Down the dumps, Bjorn Meijer also had a thing or two to say: “What is there to say? I reckon we were in control of the game, somewhat, even if it didn't come with that many chances from our side. And we conceded yet another blow in injury time. Unfathomable that we again fell in that trap. Once again we kept them from playing our own game, not putting enough forward pressure and creeping back ourselves. Consequences after this game? It may come as a cliché, but we have to keep going towards the play-offs. Furthermore, we can go on to the Croky Cup Final, even if we realise next Wednesday's game will not be easy. But we start the game with a goal's bonus, so we still are in charge at this point. We now just have to start playing our own game.” (MV)
Ronny Deila: “Heads held high as we march to Union on Wednesday”
Ronny Deila's outfit suffered yet another bitter defeat, a severe blow to the team's title aspirations.
“An extremely intense game with two teams playing fine football. In a great atmosphere to boot. The fans' support was immense, they were definitely not at fault today. It's a real pity we haven't been able to reward them for it. We fell back too much, getting ourselves into trouble. Which is why we tweaked a couple of things at half time and the game was more in balance. Our build-up from defense should have been better, as a long ball always makes it a 50-50 situation. I felt like we were in control of the game, but by the end of the game we made too many easy mistakes allowing them to overtake us. It turned out to be a thrilling game which could have gone either way. But unfortunately it didn't go our way this time. A blow, sure, but we now need to dust ourselves off and keep our heads held high as we head for Union on Wednesday. Every game we play is in balance. It was the case against Union, at Anderlecht, against Genk and Gent. It's always decided on the toss of a coin, but unfortunately that coin all too often falls incorrectly for us. I have firm belief in this group. The worst we can do is start doubting ourselves and start throwing words at each other. We have to retain the cohesion in this group and keep working hard.”
Grabbing the title will be extremely difficult after this defeat. “It's a smack in the face, surely, but we need to keep believing in it. We wanted to go for the win, but remain empty-handed. You should keep in mind, however, that after three years of success a difficult season followed. We have so many young talents, but improving is a process you have to go through. It's something that doesn't happen overnight. I cannot reproach my players of anything. They work so hard every day. This team has a great future in store, and I fully believe that.” (SF)
Watch the press conference here: