With the international break drawn to a close, Club Brugge traveled to the Guldensporen Stadium on Match Day 7 to take on KV Kortrijk. Blue & Black started out strongly, taking the lead fifteen minutes in through Vanaken. At the end of the second half, Talbi doubled the score and in added time, the final word was again for captain Vanaken, netting his second of the evening. The win will surely boost Club's confidence as it gears up towards the game against Dortmund!
Before the international break, Blauw-Zwart recorded 3 wins in a row, allowing the team to travel to Kortrijk in confidence. Coach Hayen made two changes to the team that had so easily beaten Cercle: in defense, Romero took Ordóñez' place and in midfield Onyedika was referred to the bench. This allowed Jashari to show his skills from the start. The attacking trio consisted of Skov Olsen, Tzolis and Nilsson, while the most notable fact at KV Kortrijk was a starting place for Dejaegere.
In the early stages of the match, Club immediately demanded the ball, trying to push the home side away, which resulted fairly quickly in an opportunity for Nilsson on a nice deep ball from De Cuyper, but the Swede failed to deviate it over Gunnarsson. A few minutes later, the tall striker was found again, but this time Kortrijk's goalie had an excellent reflex on Nilsson's header to prevent an early opener. The visitors continued to press and passed it around well around the sixteen. De Cuyper put the ball low in front of goal and Vetlesen was able to grab the ball, but Silva got to it just in time, turning it into a corner kick. Club's 84% ball possession dominance finally paid off after 13 minutes, as De Cuyper played a crafty ball into the sixteen and after a deviation by Nilsson there was doubt in the defense of 'De Kerels', allowing Vanaken to take advantage of this to tap the deserved lead into the nets in front of Gunnarsson. After twenty minutes, Mignolet was called into action a first time. Takamine with the space and time to lay on from just outside the sixteen, seeing his shot deflected. However, Club's goalie had an excellent save in store to prevent the equalizer.
The home team found its way into the game more and more, and the game was now increasingly played in the visitors' half. The most dangerous man at KV Kortrijk was Takamine, but this time his effort from long range did not go for target. A little beyond the half hour mark, Blauw-Zwart put its nose to the window again after a long cross from De Cuyper to Skov Olsen, the latter serving Vetlesen in the sixteen, but the latter missed his header. Still, the action was not over, as Tzolis reacted the quickest to get to the ball, but the Greek's shot went over Gunnarsson's cage. The visitors were in control again, keeping Kortrijk firmly at bay. Shortly before half-time, De Cuyper took a corner kick and he saw Skov Olsen left alone just outside the sixteen. The latter tried his luck in one go, but his volley ended up next to the goal.
The second half started with the same 22 names, and this time it was the home team that came out of the locker room a little better, without creating any immediate goal threat. Ten minutes played, however, the ball was put well in front of goal and the shot went through, allowing Dewaele to try and tap it in from close range, but fortunately for Club, Mignolet pulled off a miracle save. The visitors' reaction did not last long, as almost immediately after that Big Opportunity, Gunnarsson saved a shot by De Cuyper and then Skov Olsen kicked a little too rash over. Soon after, De Cuyper threatened again with a cross-shot, but Nilsson's deviation behind his supporting leg landed just wide of the post. The game was alive now, with chances on both sides. Vetlesen again infiltrated well inside the box, but he failed to cash in on Vanaken's assist. On the other side of the pitch, a tight cross from De Neve whizzed past everyone.
Just past the halfway point of the second half, a nice combination between Skóraś and Nilsson ended up with Tzolis, cutting inside to aim for that far corner, but seeing his effort splattered on the crossbar. The game soldiered on, with Club clearly creating more chances. Seys received the ball from Vetlesen and decided to fire away, but Lagae got in the way, and shortly after he did the same again on an attempt by Vetlesen. 83 minutes into the game, however, Club's second finally followed: Talbi was found on the left hand side, creating some space for himself and then very cleverly kicking it into the nets in the far corner.
Five minutes of extra time may have revamped KVK's hopes, but it was Club that celebrated a third time: a cross found Nilsson by the far post, and the forward took it in one go to set up Vanaken to make it his second of the evening. A fourth consecutive victory for Club, which will well serve as a confidence booster ahead of next Wednesday's clash with Dortmund!
Jupiler Pro League - Match Day 7
Audience: 9,399 - Guldensporen Stadium
Referee: Mr. Lothar D'Hondt
KV Kortrijk: Patrik Gunnarsson - Mark Mampassi, João Silva (58' Roko Simic), Bram Lagae - Gilles Dewaele, Tomoki Takamine (87' Nayel Mehssatou), Brecht Dejaegere (72' Massimo Bruno), Abdelkahar Kadri (87' Abdoulaye Sissako), Dion De Neve - Takuro Kaneko, Nacho Ferri (58' Thierry Ambrose).
Bench: Lucas Pirard, Ryan Alebiosu, Abdoulaye Sissako, Massimo Bruno, Nayel Mehssatou, Iver Fossum, Roko Simic, Mounaïm El Idrissy, Thierry Ambrose.
Coach: Freyr Alexandersson.
ClubBrugge: Simon Mignolet - Joaquin Seys (87' Kyriani Sabbe), Brandon Mechele, Zaid Romero, Maxim De Cuyper - Ardon Jashari (59' Raphael Onyedika), Hugo Vetlesen (87' Romeo Vermant), Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen (59' Michał Skóraś), Gustaf Nilsson, Christos Tzolis (74' Chemsdine Talbi).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Dani van den Heuvel, Jorne Spileers, Kyriani Sabbe, Hugo Siquet, Raphael Onyedika, Michał Skóraś, Chemsdine Talbi, Ferran Jutglà, Romeo Vermant.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow: Silva, Vetlesen, Lagae, Skóraś, Kadri
Red: none
Goals: 13' Vanaken (0-1), 83' Talbi (0-2), 90+3' Vanaken (0-3)