Match day 11 of the Jupiler Pro League took Club Brugge to Den Dreef, where it was set to face locals OH Leuven. The first half saw opportunities for both teams, but the sole goal of the evening only came with fifteen minutes on the clock, as Tzolis set Club up well as it faces an arduous mid-week task at Bayern Munich.
Just before the international break, Blauw-Zwart did an excellent job setting aside Union. Little reason for coach Hayen to be making any changes to his starting line-up, allowing Ordóñez some rest in favour of Spileers. In midfield, Sandra regained confidence at the expense of Vermant. Up front, Forbs, Tzolis and Tresoldi once again had to provide the goals.
The hosts were off to a flying start with a chance in the opening minute for Akimoto, allowed plenty of time and space on his wing to push through. His shot from an acute angle was saved by Jackers with a leg sweep. Five minutes later, a swift counter attack by the home side resulted in another chance: Schrijvers with the space serving up Maertens, but the latter took too long and his left-footed attempt posed no real threat. Club's reaction arrived in due time, as a brilliant long ball from Stanković found Tzolis, cutting inside and aiming for the far top corner, but he just couldn't keep the ball low enough. On the quarter hour it was OHL's turn again as Schrijvers dove into the back of the Bruges defense, taking it in one quick go, but fortunately his somewhat squatted effort went wide. Moments later, Club's goalie was again called upon to deny a low shot by Ikwuemesi.
An eager OH Leuven had no trouble keeping Club at bay, but just before the half hour mark the hosts came close to opening the score: Vanaken with the time and the space to run up and the captain saw that the far corner was somewhat open. The ball went just wide of target, but this was by far the most dangerous visiting effort so far. The hosts' storm subsided a bit in the meantime and Maertens' header into Jackers' hands was all they could manage. Club also failed to create any more chances, so the two teams headed for the dressing rooms not having scored.
With Sabbe on for Seys, Club took on the second half that saw a vibrant OHL taking the best start, but the first real danger was for the visitors just five minutes in. A corner kick found Forbs, prevented somewhat by ref Verbeke, but he still managed to call Leysen into action to tap the arcing ball away from under his crossbar. Shortly after, the OH Leuven goalie came to the rescue again when Tresoldi was able to strike from close range, but Leysen reacted alertly with a leg sweep. This did not prove the start of better things to come for Club, and Hayen intervened by bringing on Audoor, Ordóñez and Diakhon, among others.
The game fumbled on, and the two teams had trouble unsettling the opposition, but with fifteen minutes to go, Club finally opened the score. Diakhon with the nice drive towards goal, trying to find a team mate inside the box, but the midfielder was tackled inside the box, only to see it end up into the path of an eager Tzolis neatly tapping in the 0-1. The closing stages of the game saw no further danger, except for a Vanaken shot from just outside the sixteen. More than a Pletinckx shot ending up in the hands of Jackers was all that was in it for a feisty OHL.
Four minutes of extra time were eventually counted, but in it no more chances were scored and thus nothing more changed the score. A narrow win for Club, and a third 0-1 at Den Dreef on a spin.
Jupiler Pro League - Match day 11
Audience: 10,020 - King Power at Den Dreef Stadium
Referee: Mr. Bert Verbeke
Oud-Heverlee Leuven: Tobe Leysen - Ewoud Pletinckx, Noë Dussenne, Takuma Ominami - Óscar Gil, Siebe Schrijvers (18' Wouter George), Lukasz Lakomy, Takahiro Akimoto - Mathieu Maertens (74' Abdoul Karim Traoré), Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi (74' Sory Kaba), Youssef Maziz (55' Jovan Mijatović).
Bench: Maxence Prévot, Théo Radelet, Wouter George, Davies Opoku, Abdoul Karim Traoré, Henok Teklab, Sory Kaba, Jovan Mijatović, Roggerio Nyakossi, Thibaud Verlinden.
Coach: Hans Somers.
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers - Joaquin Seys (46' Kyriani Sabbe), Jorne Spileers (67' Joel Ordóñez), Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer - Aleksandar Stanković, Hans Vanaken, Cisse Sandra (57' Lynnt Audoor) - Carlos Forbs (67' Mamadou Diakhon), Nicolò Tresoldi (87' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Argus Vanden Driessche, Joel Ordóñez, Hugo Siquet, Kyriani Sabbe, Hugo Vetlesen, Lynnt Audoor, Romeo Vermant, Mamadou Diakhon, Shandre Campbell.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow: Meijer, Ominami, Gil
Red: none
Goal: 77' Tzolis (0-1)