In the 1/16th finals of the Croky Cup, Club Brugge travelled to 't Kiel to take on Beerschot. After the first half, Blauw-Zwart already had their sheep on dry land after goals by Thiago, Skov Olsen (2x), Odoi and Vetlesen. After the break, Vetlesen also scored his second of the evening, and so Club continues the cup after a big 0-6 victory against Beerschot!
Blauw-Zwart recorded a very important victory against national champions Antwerp on Sunday, but before the cup clash it was to be expected that coach Deila would rotate a bit. There were some changes in the starting line-up, starting in defense. There, Odoi took the place of Buchanan and young Ordóñez got his chance at the expense of Spileers. In midfield, Balanta and Vetlesen returned to the team and in the attacking compartment, Nusa and Skov Olsen played in support of deep striker Thiago.
It was Club that claimed possession of the ball in the early stages and immediately put pressure forward. This paid off after three minutes, when Thiago stole the ball from Tolis. The Brazilian striker then stormed into the penalty area to kick the ball into the roof of the goal. The home team's reaction was not long in coming via a blast from Reyners, but Mignolet reacted alertly to keep the ball out of his nets. Beerschot then took some control of the game, but without any concrete goal threat. On the contrary, it was Blauw-Zwart who doubled their lead around the quarter hour mark, but Matijas made a fine save on an equally fine header by Thiago. Halfway through the first half, the double lead was on the board! Cagro wanted to play the ball back to his goalkeeper, but did so pass into the feet of Skov Olsen. Club's Danish winger reacted fluently to bypass Matijas and simply lay the 0-2 inside.
The second goal provided extra confidence for the visitors from Bruges, and on the half-hour mark the margin became a little more comfortable. Skov Olsen cut a corner kick well and Odoi extended the leather nicely into the far corner at the first post. However, after this third goal the hunger was not yet satisfied, because a few minutes later number four was already on the ropes. Skov Olsen got rid of Tshimanga to lay the ball back for Vetlesen at the right moment. The Norwegian popped the 0-4 into the roof of the goal. Beerschot still had to empty the chalice to the bottom in the first half, because on the stroke of halftime Skov Olsen took care of the forfeit figures with a true beauty. From outside the sixteen he popped the ball beautifully into the top corner past Matijas. The final chord was for the home team, but they were denied an honorable goal. Sanusi's free kick hit the crossbar and the score was 0-5...
The second half started with two new names at Club: Skov Olsen was allowed to rest with an eye on Sunday against Union and Meijer also remained in the locker room. Their replacements were Skóraś and Boyata, respectively. Initially it was Beerschot that circulated the ball well, but once again it was the visitors who extended the score. Thiago intercepted a too-short back pass and in turn served Vetlesen. The latter easily put his second of the evening past Matijas. The game had been played for some time and consequently substitutions were made. Perhaps the most notable substitution was that of Barberá, who made his debut for Blauw-Zwart. The chances remained for Brugge, but both Skóraś (over goal), and moments later Nusa and Barberá were unable to rattle the nets this time. In the last attempt, goalkeeper Matijas played a starring role with two good interventions.
The home side tried to respond through Sanusi, but his effort ended up over Mignolet's goal. Afterwards, Club took over again with, among other things, a fine action by Nusa. He set up the combination with Zinckernagel, but then concluded with a low shot into the hands of Matijas. A few minutes later Onyedika also went for his chance, but he popped the leather narrowly wide of the post. After this opportunity, a few substitutions were made, especially for the home team, but it was already clear for some time that the second half was actually rather a measure of nothing. Blauw-Zwart dominated and Beerschot could not make a fist.
Barberá did have a good raid and showed himself once again by freeing himself nicely and then kicking towards goal from distance. His attempt, however, went well over goal. In the end there was no more overtime and the score did not change. Blauw-Zwart continues after a big win against Beerschot!
Croky Cup - 1/16th Finals
Spectators: 12,771 - Olympic Stadium ('t Kiel)
Referee: Simon Bourdeaud'hui
K. Beerschot V.A.: Davor Matijas - Apostolos Konstantopoulos (58' Félix Nzouango), Hervé Matthijs, Derrick Tshimanga (82' Marco Weymans) - Simion Michez (82' Ibrahim Alhassan), Ryan Sanusi, Welat Cagro, Mardochée Nzita - Tom Reyners (58' Charly Keita), Thibaud Verlinden (82' Benjamin Pauwels), Axl Van Himbeeck.
Bank: Bill Lathouwers, Luca Meisl, Charly Keita, Marco Weymans, Ibrahim Alhassan, Benjamin Pauwels, Félix Nzouango.
Coach: Andreas Wieland.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Denis Odoi, Brandon Mechele, Joel Ordóñez, Bjorn Meijer (46' Dedryck Boyata) - Éder Balanta (73' Raphael Onyedika), Hugo Vetlesen, Hans Vanaken (62' Philip Zinckernagel) - Andreas Skov Olsen (46' Michał Skóraś), Igor Thiago (62' Victor Barberá), Antonio Nusa.
Bank: Nordin Jackers, Nick Shinton, Dedryck Boyata, Jorne Spileers, Raphael Onyedika, Michał Skóraś, Philip Zinckernagel, Victor Barberá.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
Yellow cards: Van Himbeeck
Red cards: none
Goals: 4' Thiago (0-1), 22' Skov Olsen (0-2), 31' Odoi (0-3), 33' Vetlesen (0-4), 44' Skov Olsen (0-5), 54' Vetlesen (0-6)