In the1/8th Finals of the Croky Cup, Club Brugge went to Den Dreef to take on OH Leuven. After a good half hour, the Brugge players took the lead after a wonderful curl by Vetlesen, and 0-1 was also the score at halftime. In the second half, Kaba brought the home team alongside, but eventually Tzolis scored the 1-2 from the spot. This way, Club continues in the Croky Cup!
Blauw-Zwart went down at home against Antwerp last Sunday after a goal in the closing stages. Perhaps some rotation was expected for the OHL Cup, but coach Hayen kept changes to a minimum. In goal, van den Heuvel was allowed to take his place under the crossbar again and Siquet was trusted at right back. In midfield, Stanković returned to the starting line-up and Vetlesen was given preference over Forbs on the right flank. There was more substitution for the home team, who had no fewer than seven new names on the pitch compared to the game against KRC Genk.
It was Club that in the opening stages immediately claimed the ball and put pressure forward. After only a few minutes, this resulted in a nice combination between Vetlesen and Tzolis, with the latter rocking the ball nicely over the defense. Unfortunately, the Norwegian midfielder just couldn't reach the leather enough to threaten goalkeeper Prévot. Shortly before the quarter hour mark, the Brugge players were able to cheer for the first time when Tzolis came inside and curled the ball beautifully with his left past Prévot into the far corner. The party did not continue, however, because prior to that VAR detected an offside call by Siquet. After twenty minutes, the first OHL reply came and van den Heuvel had to be alert. Club's goalie intervened well on a sharp cross, but the ball ended up at the feet of Mijatović. He immediately lashed out towards goal, but fortunately Ordóñez was able to deviate the ball into a corner.
Moments later, there was another scare in the Club penalty area when Verlinden delivered a sharp cross with his left. This time Ordóñez was able to hinder Mijatović sufficiently so that the latter could not head in freely. On the half hour it was Kaba's turn to create danger, when he suddenly appeared alone in front of van den Heuvel after Vanaken missed. The OHL striker lobbed the shot wide of the goal, but was eventually flagged for offside. Blauw-Zwart had clearly woken up and reacted shortly after with the opening goal! Siquet played the ball to Stanković, who in turn laid aside for Vetlesen. The latter came in well and then from just outside the sixteen curled the leather beautifully into the far corner with his left. The home team's reaction was not long in coming, but both Kaba (twice) and Pletinckx (with the head) could not really worry van den Heuvel in the end. In the end, Club went to rest with a 0-1 lead....
The same 22 names made their appearance at the start of the second half and once again it was the visitors who immediately took control. Tzolis was able to push through on his flank, came inside to then fish the far corner. Unfortunately, however, the Greek winger could not frame his attempt. Blue-Black clearly had the upper hand in the first ten minutes of the second game, but egg so after the signs were still tied. On a corner kick, the ball shot through and Dussenne was eventually able to kick towards goal from close range. Fortunately for Club, van den Heuvel had an excellent reflex to prevent the equalizer. A little after the hour, the visitors had a double chance through Tzolis and Tresoldi. First the Greek popped hard on Prévot's fists from an oblique angle and in the retrieval Tresoldi could not get the ball under control to finish properly.
Midway through the second half, the signs suddenly hung even. Mechele was unable to clear a ball properly and Onyedika also allowed himself to be put away a little too easily by Kaba in the sixteen. The latter then blasted the ball hard past van den Heuvel into the far top corner. After a long VAR intervention the goal was finally awarded and the score was 1-1. Blauw-Zwart was not fazed by this equalizer and immediately went in search of another lead. Tzolis was able to take the ball well to the penalty spot and there Vanaken ran in well. The captain unfortunately did not get his shot under control enough to outsmart Prévot. The Bruges pressure did result in a penalty kick moments later after Dussenne's hand play on a Tzolis cross. The Greek also took responsibility himself and sent the OHL goalie the wrong way, bringing Club back into the lead! The home team responded via a header from Maziz, but he could not frame his attempt. Things went up and down quickly now, as on the opposite side Stanković spooned the ball nicely in front of goal and there Sandra ran in well. However, due to contact with Traoré, the Bruges player could not finish and a few minutes later it was Mechele who was the saving grace for Club by throwing himself in front of a shot by Ikwuemesi.
There were seven minutes extra and in that time Blauw-Zwart had the chance to extend the score. Vermant was able to send Tzolis deep with his head and he could only go for Prévot. Unfortunately the Greek winger decided to hit the legs of the Leuven goalkeeper and so it remained exciting until the bitter end. In the end, the 1-2 remained on the scoreboard and so Club qualified for the quarter-finals of the Croky Cup!
Croky Cup - 1/8th Finals
Spectators: 8,000 - King Power at Den Dreef
Referee: Jasper Vergoote
Oud-Heverlee Leuven: Maxence Prévot - Takumi Ominami (86' Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi), Ewoud Pletinckx, Noë Dussenne - Óscar Gil (59' Davis Opoku), Lukasz Lakomi, Wouter George (59' Mathieu Maertens), Youssef Maziz, Thibaud Verlinden (80' Casper Terho) - Sory Kaba, Jovan Mijatović (59' Abdoul Karim Traoré).
Bank: Tobe Leysen, Théo Radelet, Birger Verstraete, Abdoul Karim Traoré, Casper Terho, Henok Teklab, Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi, Mathieu Maertens, Roggerio Nyakossi, Davis Opoku.
Coach: Felice Mazzù.
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Hugo Siquet (90+8' Vince Osuji), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys (70' Cisse Sandra) - Aleksandar Stanković, Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken - Hugo Vetlesen (90+3' Bjorn Meijer), Nicolò Tresoldi (70' Romeo Vermant (90+3' Gustaf Nilsson)), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Axl De Corte, Argus Vanden Driessche, Vince Osuji, Bjorn Meijer, Samuel Gomez Van Hoogen, Shandre Campbell, Romeo Vermant, Cisse Sandra, Carlos Forbs, Gustaf Nilsson.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow cards: Onyedika
Redcards: none
Goal: 33' Vetlesen (0-1), 70' Sory Kaba (1-1), 83' Tzolis (1-2)