Anderlecht had the better of the chances in a scoreless Europa League match against Timisoara at Dan Paltinisanu Stadium.

Ajax's defeat of Dinamo Zagreb means the Dutch side join Anderlecht at the top of Group A on five points, with three matches remaining.

The Romanians are still propping up the four-team group with two points - one behind Dinamo - but still harbour hopes of qualification.

The first chance of the game came just past the 10-minute mark when Anderlecht's Lucas Biglia's right-foot shot from 18 yards went wide of Costel Pantilimon's goal.

The hosts first threatened in the 32nd minute, and Artavazd Karamyan should have done better than head over from close range.

Anderlecht responded less than two minutes later when Kanu's header from Mbark Boussoufa also went over from six yards.

Pantilimon made the game's first save of note just six minutes before the interval when he punched Boussoufa's free-kick to safety.

The Belgian side finished the half strongly and would have had the advantage had Romelu Lukaku's not fired his right-foot shot from close range over in the 41st minute.

Karamyan's 51st-minute effort from 35 yards went wide of Silvio Proto's goal - and less than two minutes later at the other end, Boussoufa was similarly off target with an effort from 20 yards.

When Anderlecht's Olivier Deschacht fouled Bonfim Eder 20 yards out, it presented the home side with an opportunity to break the deadlock. But Karamyan's left-footed free-kick sailed over the bar.

Inside the last 20 minutes, the hosts introduced Winston Parks and Alexandru Curtean at the expense of Gheorghe Bucur and Arman Karamyan - Lukas Magera replacing Dan Alexa in a similar attacking move with 10 minutes remaining.

But the change of personnel made no difference to the scoreline - and Anderlecht, who also made three changes in the second half, went closest to sealing the victory in the closing stages.

Boussoufa had an 82nd-minute shot saved - and although Artavazd Karamyan saw an 87th-minute effort parried by Proto, Pantilimon needed to be at his best to keep out a long-range effort from Deschacht soon afterwards.

Teams:

FC Timisoara Pantilimon, Mera, Nibombe, Scutaru, Eder,Alexa (Magera 81), Bourceanu, Artavazd Karamyan, Goga,Bucur (Parks 73), Arman Karamyan (Curtean 72).

Subs Not Used: Taborda, Stancu, Maxim, Ionescu.

Booked: Eder, Mera, Parks.

Anderlecht Proto, Gillet, Juhasz, Deschacht, Mazuch,Kanu (Rnic 46), Diandy (Kouyate 85), Sare, Biglia,Lukaku (Suarez 64), Boussoufa.

Subs Not Used: Cordier, Kruiswijk, Chatelle, De Sutter.

Booked: Kanu.

Att: 10,000

Ref: Claudio Circhetta (Switzerland).