RSC Anderlecht vs Kairat Almaty

Anderlecht made light work of Kairat Almaty at Lotto Park, sealing a comfortable 3-0 win to complete a dominant playoff double-header. The breakthrough came right on the stroke of halftime, when VAR flagged a handball by Kairat's Olzhas Baybek inside the box, and Anderlecht made the most of the resulting spot-kick. Mihajlo Cvetkovic slotted home the penalty in first-half stoppage time to break the deadlock. Early in the second half, Danylo Sikan doubled the lead in the 53rd minute, finishing off a assist from Marco Kana. Giulian Biancone then rounded things off with a header in the 71st minute, set up by Marten Winkler. No red cards were shown, though bookings piled up on both sides as tempers occasionally flared. The win rounded out a 6-0 aggregate hammering across both legs, sending Anderlecht comfortably through to the group stage with plenty of confidence to carry forward. For Kairat Almaty, the tie confirms their European run ends at the playoff hurdle, a tough but instructive test against clearly superior opposition.