Club bows out of Belgian cup following 1-4 defeat against STVV

No Belgian cup campaign for Club after the winter break. Blauw-Zwart suffered a 1-4 defeat at home against STVV.

It had been 38 days since Club Brugge's last official action because of the 2022 WC in Qatar. Compared to the topper against Antwerp mid-November, Carl Hoefkens made two changes. Clinton Mata had recovered from his injury and resumed his starting place at the back at the expense of Denis Odoi. Tajon Buchanan also joined the team, replacing Skov Olsen. Club played in a 4-3-3 formation, with Buchanan and Lang playing in support of striker Jutglà.

Club started the match well with a lot of possession, while Sint-Truiden focussed mostly on their defensive duties.

It took Club ten minutes to create a first good chance. After a short-taken corner kick, Jutglà lashed out from distance, but goalkeeper Schmidt was equal to it. A few minutes later the same scenario: Meijer tried from an acute angle, the Japanese went down quickly. Club imposed its will more and more emphatically, which also resulted in a lead after a good quarter of an hour. After an attack by the visitors, Jutglà headed the ball through to Noa Lang, who started a long rush from his own half. The Dutchman came face to face with Schmidt and sidefooted it against the back of the net.

The visitors seemed unable to respond immediately, but got some help from Simon Mignolet. The goalkeeper unfortunatley kicked the ball against Christian Brüls, which bumped into the goal. Parity again after half an hour play.

Club wanted to restore the lead again before the half-time interval. On a corner kick Sylla looked to be in a good position to score, but the flag was raised for an offside position. The best chance was for Meijer, but his effort took a deflection on a defender before it rose over the bar. Just before half-time Buchanan picked out Jutglà, but the Catalan deviated the ball over the crossbar.

Noa Lang had limped off and stayed in the dressing room at half-time. He was replaced by Andreas Skov Olsen. Club commanded the play again, while STVV put on a strong defense organization. The first chance in the second half was for Casper Nielsen, but the Dane's volley ended up in the arms of Schmidt. On the hour a dangerously looking cross from Skov Olsen was cleared by the visitors' defence.

It was not Club, but STVV that managed another goal. The visiting team took advantage from a Vanaken slip to set up a quick counterattacking move. Gianni Bruno lashed out from far out and his effort took a deflection on Mechele before it went in. And it was not over yet. Twenty minutes before the end Hayashi tapped in Hashioka's cross.

Five minutes before the end substitute Larin latched onto Vanaken's through ball and fired it in, but the goal was chalked off for offside. Instead, Bruno bagged another one in the closing minutes to seal the deal for STVV. An unfortunate defeat for Club Brugge who have to put away their cup ambitions away early on in the campaign.

Belgian cup – 1/8th finals
Attendance: 12.200 – Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Lothar D’Hondt
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Clinton Mata, Brandon Mechele, Abakar Sylla, Bjorn Meijer – Casper Nielsen (75’ Cyle Larin), Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken – Tajon Buchanan, Ferran Jutglà, Noa Lang (46’ Andreas Skov Olsen). Bank: Axl De Corte, Senne Lammens, Denis Odoi, Kamal Sowah, Antonio Nusa, Jorne Spileers en Lynnt Audoor. Coach: Carl Hoefkens.
STVV: Daniel Schmidt – Wolke Janssens, Toni Leistner, Ameen Al-Dakhil - Daiki Hashioka, Mory Konaté (8’ Daichi Hayashi), Frank Boya, Christian Brüls Eric Bocat - Gianni Bruno, Shinji Okazaki. Coach: Bernd Hollerbach.
Yellow cards: Onyedika, Hashioka.
Red cards: none
Goals: 17’ Lang (1-0), 33’ Brüls (1-1), 62’ Bruno (1-2), 69’ Hayashi (1-3), 88’ Bruno (1-4).