Not a picnic for Club it seemed, as it was set up with Beerschot in the Belgian Cup Round of 32. After a stunning first half performance, however, Blue and Black already had feathered its nest in the first half, through goals by Thiago, Skov Olsen (2x), Odoi and Vetlesen. After the break, Vetlesen added another to complete his brace, making it a 0-6 win on the night!
Having claimed the scalp of reigning champions Antwerp on the weekend, Club Brugge was but all too aware of the importance of this win. As was to be expected, coach Deila decided to make a few changes to his team, bringing on Odoi for Buchanan and lining up Ordóñez at the expense of Spileers. In midfield, Balanta and Vetlesen made their return, and up front Nusa and Skov Olsen joined Thiago.
Club started out with lots of possession, applying a lot of forward pressure. The fine intentions paid off almost immediately: Thiago snatching the ball from Tolis and heading for goal, only to fire it in from an acute corner. Not exactly taken aback, the hosts reacted through a flash by Reyners, but it would take more to beat Mignolet. Beerschot now started take control of the game, but without any real danger. Fifteen minutes played, however, the goal almost fell on the other end as Matijas had a great save in store to deny Thiago's fine header. The double lead came a bit later, however. Cargo tried reaching his goalkeeper, but missed out on Skov Olsen who had remained up front. The Danish winger had no trouble unwrapping this gift, going past Matijas to make it an even more reassuring 0-2.
That second goal did a world of good to the already teeming confidence in the visitors, and the gap was further widened a bit later. Skov Olsen with the thrifty corner kick to find Odoi by the first post to head it in towards the far post. Still not satisfied, Club kept coming, and a fourth goal followed: Skov Olsen getting past Tshimanga to find Vetlesen in front of goal: 0-4. And still it was not over: an industrious Skov Olsen met with a cleared ball from the edge of the box, producing a fabulous shot in the top left hand corner to score Club's fifth. The visitors kept trying their luck too, but were unlucky to see a Sanusi free kick come off the crossbar.
Two new names at Club side for the second half, with Skov Olsen allowed some rest in view of the clash with league leaders Union on Sunday, just like Meijer, replaced by Skóraś and Boyata. Beerschot had a fine run with the ball in the second half, but it was still the visitors that further broadened the score. A bad return to Matijas was intercepted by Thiago, who neatly saw Vetlesen following up to tap in the 0-6. The broad score spurred both teams to make a lot of changes, with the most striking substitution at Club side, with Barberá making his debut at Club Brugge. Chances kept following for the visitors, but both Skóraś (over), and a bit later Nusa and Barberá all proved unable to reach the back of the nets.
Fair enough, the hosts kept looking for that goal, but another Sanusi attempt ended up over Mignolet's goal. Club again took matters in hand, a.o. with a nice action by Nusa, setting up a combination with Zinckernagel, but aiming his low shot in the hands of Matijas. Minutes later, Onyedika also had a go, but he aimed his shot just wide of target. More changes followed, but the game had been done and dusted for a long time, and no more chances followed.
Croky Cup – Round of 32
Audience: 12,771 – Olympisch Stadion (’t Kiel)
Ref: Mr. 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.
Bench: 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.
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Nick Shinton, Dedryck Boyata, Jorne Spileers, Raphael Onyedika, Michał Skóraś, Philip Zinckernagel, Victor Barberá.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
Yellow: Van Himbeeck
Red: 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)