By Katie Nguyen
Reuters
Wednesday, October 24, 2001; 6:17 PM

_____Champions League_____ Draws/Tables/Fixtures: • First Phase _____Results_____ Matchday 5 • Group A Anderlecht 1, Lokomotiv Moscow 5 Real Madrid 1, Roma 1 • Group B Boavista 1, Liverpool 1 Bo. Dortmund 1, Dynamo Kiev 0 • Group C Arsenal 3, Real Mallorca 1 Panathinaikos 2, Schalke 0 • Group D PSV Eindhoven 0, Nantes 0 Lazio 1, Galatasaray 0 • Group E Juventus 3, Porto 1 Rosenborg 2, Celtic 0 • Group F Fenerbahce 1, Bayer Leverkusen 2 Lyon 2, Barcelona 3 • Group G Manchester United 3, Olympiakos 0 Deportivo 1, Lille 1 • Group H Bayern Munich 3, Feyenoord 1 Spartak Moscow 2, Sparta Prague 2

BRUSSELS, Oct 24 – Lokomotiv Moscow humiliated Anderlecht on their own ground on Wednesday, thrashing them 5-1 to send the Belgian team crashing to the bottom of Champions League group A.

Lokomotiv's first win in the competition means that, although they cannot qualify for the last 16, they are favourites to seize third spot in the group and a consolation UEFA Cup place.

To keep any UEFA Cup hopes alive, Anderlecht would have to beat AS Roma in their last group A match in Italy next Tuesday while Lokomotiv Moscow would have to lose to group leaders Real Madrid in Moscow.

Anderlecht's miserable night, littered with embarrassing defensive errors, had the 22,500 home crowd booing at the end.

Anderlecht, a pale shadow of the side who had a good run in the Champions League last season, have managed only two draws in the competition this season.

The team's lack of firepower after losing key strikers Jan Koller and Tomasz Radzinski in the close-season was painfully obvious on Wednesday.

Lokomotiv Moscow coach Yuri Semin thanked his players for not losing heart after going behind early on.

"Perhaps it was our best match of the season," he told reporters.

"I think the decisive goal was the second one, because before that Anderlecht played well," he said.

Anderlecht coach Aime Anthuenis was philosophical in defeat. "I'm convinced we will find a suitable answer to this result. I can't complain about the players' motivation because they did everything they could, so the result was not a failure," he said.

Anderlecht had the best possible start when Alexsander Ilic rifled home a left-footed shot from close range after two minutes as several Anderlecht players challenged for a loose ball in the driving rain.

It was the first goal they had scored at their Park Astrid ground in the Champions League this season.

But Lokomotiv Moscow were back on level terms 11 minutes later when a seemingly harmless Marat Izmailov free kick curled into the net past the despairing hand of Anderlecht goalkeeper Filip de Wilde.

The Belgian champions' confidence was shattered in the 28th minute, when a blunder by a static Anderlecht defence allowed Dmitry Sennikov to stab home an opportunistic goal and put Lokomotiv Moscow ahead.

In the 35th minute, Anderlecht had a goal disallowed for offside. A few minutes later, Anderlecht striker Oleg Iachtchouk squandered a great chance when he took one touch too many in the penalty area, allowing Nigmatullin to save.

In the second half, Lokomotiv Moscow punished an increasingly ragged Anderlecht side.

In the 57th minute, Ruslan Pimenov beat the offside trap and ran clear, firing the ball home through de Wilde's legs.

Ten minutes after coming on as substitute, Maxim Buznikin took advantage of disarray in the Anderlecht defence to score Lokomotiv Moscow's fourth in the 63rd minute.

Six minutes later, Pimenov crossed to Buznikin to slot home his second goal and complete Anderlecht's misery.