On "Boxing Day," Club Brugge headed to the Cegeka Arena for the topper against KRC Genk. Club took an early lead after a nice curl by Vetlesen and moments later Vermant doubled the lead. Genk then quickly scored the tying goal, but shortly before halftime Vanaken made it 1-3 at halftime. In the second half, the home team came alongside thanks to goals by Heymans and Ito, but in the end the final word was for the visitors. Stanković and Sandra took care of the 3-5 final score and so Blauw-Zwart ends the year 2025 on a positive note!
Last Sunday, Club prevailed by beating KAA Gent 2-1 at home. Coach Ivan Leko consequently had little reason to make many changes to his starting line-up and that did not happen. There was only one substitution, more specifically in the attacking compartment. Tzolis returned from illness and took his starting spot at the expense of Diakhon. Mechele was out injured on Sunday but was found fit enough to start against KRC Genk. Finally, Vermant was also once again given the confidence to start at the point of the Bruges attack.
In the first five minutes of the match, we mainly got to see a scanning attitude from both teams. The home team did have a bit more ball possession, but for the time being not much more came out of it than a distance attempt from Oh next to the goal. Gradually Blauw-Zwart took control of the game and that resulted in an excellent chance for Vermant, but his header from close range was a bit too central and Van Crombrugge was able to prevent the opening goal with an excellent reflex. That proved to be just a delay, however, because the following corner kick was a goal for the Bruges players! After a rehearsed number, Tzolis laid the ball aside to Vetlesen, and the Norwegian midfielder painted the ball beautifully into the far corner of the net. Shortly before halfway through the first half, things looked even more beautiful for Leko's troops! After a quick switch, Club suddenly found themselves with an overtime near the Genk sixteen. Tzolis finally laid the leather aside for Vermant who popped the double lead on the scoreboard via the underside of the crossbar in front of goal.
A Genk reaction did not fail to materialize, however, as a few minutes after the 0-2 we already noted the tying goal. Oh sent Sor deep and the latter was able to run onto van den Heuvel at speed. The striker did not hesitate to put the ball past the Bruges goalie. Ten minutes later it was the same Sor who again caused some threat, but first his attempt was blocked by Mechele and shortly afterwards he kicked wildly over goal from outside the penalty area. Shortly before halftime, Blauw-Zwart did manage to regain a two-goal margin. The defense of the Limburgers could not get rid of the ball and so Vermant was able to serve Vetlesen with a heel. The latter in turn put the ball perfectly in front of goal where captain Vanaken popped up to score Bruges' third goal of the afternoon. The home team responded with efforts by Heymans and Medina, but in the end we went to rest with a 1-3 lead for Club...
The second half started with one change on the Genk side where Mirisola came into the team for Oh. It paid off almost immediately, as the substitute was sent deep after a few minutes and tried to outsmart Van den Heuvel from a sharp angle. The latter, however, stood firm and prevented another tying goal. Unfortunately, it came a few minutes later. Hrošovský stepped up to take a free kick and at the far post Heymans popped up to head the 2-3 into the net. The home team smelled blood and kept up the pressure. This resulted in opportunities for Heymans and Heynen, but for the time being Blauw-Zwart held out.
Halfway through the second half Genk was there again when a ball on a corner kick at the far post was headed back for Karetsas. His shot was blocked by Vanaken and in the retrieval Sor also failed to really put van den Heuvel to work. Neither did El Ouahdi a few minutes later, as his shot from just outside the box was not framed. So the equalizer was in the air, and it came. Ito dribbled past Siquet and the Japanese continued his solo into Club's sixteen. Finally, he was able to outsmart van den Heuvel in the short corner. So just when one thought the Limburgers would go on and over, Blauw-Zwart struck ice cold! Stanković had some space outside the penalty area and you shouldn't give that to the Serbian. With a beautiful blast, he gave Van Crombrugge the lead and so the visitors took the lead again. Genk tried to respond quickly via a free kick from Karetsas, but van den Heuvel pushed the ball over the crossbar.
An extra seven minutes were eventually counted, and in it the just-fallen Sandra decided the game. He came inside, but his kick deflected off Smets and ended up in the far corner. Thus Blauw-Zwart took the full booty and closed out 2025 with a nice win!
Jupiler Pro League - Day 20
Spectators: 23,718 - Cegeka Arena
Referee: Lawrence Visser
KRCGenk: Hendrik Van Crombrugge - Zakaria El Ouahdi (81' Ken Nkuba), Mujaid Sadick, Matte Smets, Yaimar Medina (72' Adrián Palacios) - Bryan Heynen, Patrik Hrošovský (81' Jarne Steuckers), Daan Heymans - Konstantinos Karetsas, Hyeon-gyu Oh (46' Robin Mirisola), Yira Sor (72' Junya Ito).
Bank: Lucca Brughmans, Tobias Lawal, Adrián Palacios, Josué Kongolo, Ken Nkuba, Ibrahima Sory Bangoura, Nikolas Sattlberger, Jusef Erabi, Junya Ito, Jarne Steuckers, Robin Mirisola. Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Kyriani Sabbe (65' Hugo Siquet), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys - Aleksandar Stanković, Hugo Vetlesen (90+1' Bjorn Meijer), Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs (90+1' Cisse Sandra), Romeo Vermant (74' Nicolò Tresoldi), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Axl De Corte, Bjorn Meijer, Vince Osuji, Hugo Siquet, Jorne Spileers, Cisse Sandra, Mamadou Diakhon, Nicolò Tresoldi, Kaye Furo.
Coach: Ivan Leko.
Yellow cards: Medina, Oh, Vermant, Sabbe, Sadick, Ordóñez
Red cards: none
Goals: 13' Vetlesen (0-1), 22' Vermant (0-2), 24' Sor (1-2), 43' Vanaken (1-3), 51' Heymans (2-3), 76' Ito (3-3), 80' Stanković (3-4), 90+3' Sandra (3-5)