Club Brugge took on Eredivisie side Go Ahead Eagles in its fourth pre-season match. Oliver Edvardsen gave the Eagles the lead in the first half, but Onyedika and Homma set things right after the break. And so Club ends the Summer training camp with a victory.
Go Ahead Eagles were best out of the starting blocks, with a first good chance after six minutes when Buchanan had to clear Edvardsen's chip off the goalline. Halfway the first half the Dutch side broke the deadlock when Edvardsen dispossessed Mechele and squared it to the other Edvardsen, who could not miss from close range. Club tried to level the score before the half-time whistle but goalkeeper de Lange was equal to the efforts of Nusa and Skov Olsen.
Coach Deila sent eleven different players onto the fray for the second half and it was a completely different match, with Club dictating the pace of the game. Ten minutes in, Spileers was unmarked at the far post on a corner kick, but his close-range shot was kept out by de Lange with a good foot reflex. A few moments later Skoras' corner kick almost flew in, as it grazed the far post.
Club upped the pressure on Go Ahead Eagles and a few minutes later the Pole tried his luck again. This time his well-struck effort was blocked. With twenty minutes on the clock Blauw-Zwart pulled level when Onyedika slammed a loose ball high into the net from the edge of the penalty area. Club kept the pressure high and Vermant did well to recover a backpass to de Lange, but the goalkeeper palmed away his attempt. At the other end Shinton did well to tip Serra's strike over the crossbar.
In the last ten minutes of the match, Club kept the intensity level high with a number of chances. First Yaremchuck saw his header chalked off, as he was deemed to be in an offside position, but with five minutes left Homma bagged the three points with his first in this pre-season. The Japanese surged into the box, turned and steered it into the far corner to make it two.
Blauw-Zwart so ends its pre-season campaign in the Netherlands with a 2-1 victory.
Club Brugge - first half: Simon Mignolet – Tajon Buchanan, Jack Hendry, Brandon Mechele, Maxim Decuyper – Mats Rits, Hans Vanaken, Hugo Vetlesen – Antonio Nusa, Andreas Skov Olsen, Igor Thiago.
Club Brugge - second half: Nick Shinton - Denis Odoi, Joel Ordoñez, Jorne Spileers, Kyriani Sabbe – Raphael Onyedika, Cisse Sandra, Kamal Sowah – Michal Skoras (70’ Shion Homma), Romeo Vermant, Roman Yaremchuk.
Goals: 23’ O. Edvardsen (0-1), 69’ Onyedika (1-1), 84’ Homma (2-1)