On matchday 17 of the Jupiler Pro League, Club Brugge went to the AFAS Stadium for a confrontation with KV Mechelen. Both in the first and second half, Blauw-Zwart was able to shake the nets, but goals by Vanaken and Thiago were disallowed. Thus, the match ended in a scoreless draw.
Blauw-Zwart smoothly took on Zulte-Waregem last Wednesday in the 1/8th finals of the Croky Cup, yet coach Deila opted to revert to the basic eleven that knocked off Standard. The only change compared to the 11 starters against the Rouches, was the choice of Nielsen instead of Onyedika. Skov Olsen found his way to the nets twice on Wednesday, but so now had to make peace with a place on the bench. Thus, Jutglà and Zinckernagel played in support of striker in form Thiago.
It was the home team that started the match with the most enthusiasm and young Bassette in particular tried to show himself emphatically. First he kicked from a very sharp angle, but this attempt posed no problem for Mignolet. Moments later he infiltrated well on a sharp cross from Foulon, but this time his shot missed. A little before the quarter-hour mark, Club then responded for the first time. Nielsen got to the back line nicely and put the ball in front of goal. There the leather was deviated and Vanaken was able to shake the nets. The Bruges party did not continue, however, as Nielsen's cross sent the ball over the back line. The game went back and forth well, as shortly after this phase it was KV Mechelen's turn again. Schoofs had space on a dropped ball, but his effort landed high over and wide of the goal. Then his colleague Bassette did know the goal. After the striker was sent into the depths by Mrabti, he did not hesitate to take a hard shot. Luckily, Mignolet was right there and prevented worse.
Blauw-Zwart took more control of the game, but a free kick by De Cuyper was all they could manage. Hairemans also tried his luck from distance, but his effort was aimed straight at Mignolet. Jutglà could not really show himself in this match, but turned free to make space for himself. His curled shot towards the far corner unfortunately went wide of Coucke's cage. The first half was mainly characterized by two teams that put a lot of energy into the game, but this did not immediately result in a major goal threat. Just before the halftime signal, the home team showed themselves twice in short order, but both Vanlerberghe and Konaté could not really threaten Mignolet. Thus we rested with a (logical) glasses score....
The same 22 tenors started the second half, but initially we saw the same pattern of play as in the first. Blauw-Zwart had the most ball possession, but KV Mechelen stayed well organized. As a result, there was a lot of midfield play, but hardly any goal threat from either side. Coach Deila understood that something had to change and he made a triple substitution. Skov Olsen, Onyedika and Meijer joined the team at the expense of Zinckernagel, Nielsen and Buchanan. Shortly after these substitutions, Bassette attempted to lob Mignolet from long range, but his shot went far wide of the Bruges closing goal. The visitors could do little in return for the time being, except for a header from Thiago. Halfway through the second half, a towering opportunity for Club then fell from the sky. De Cuyper put the ball in front of goal, and suddenly the ball landed at the feet of Vetlesen. The Norwegian was able to take a shot from close range, but unfortunately did so too wildly and shot over Coucke's goal. This was the chance for the opening goal!
This was the signal for Club to push on and put more pressure on the home team. This soon resulted in a goal by Thiago, but once again the goal was disallowed, this time for offside by the Brazilian striker. Moments later, Blauw-Zwart was there again through Meijer who laid the ball backwards for Nusa. The latter in turn played the ball aside for Skov Olsen, but his right footed shot was too central and Coucke reflexively pushed the ball over the crossbar. Spurred on by Nusa, Club was now close to a goal several times. The Norwegian winger tried it himself at the end of regular playing time, but the curl with his left ended up against the post. Thiago was too surprised in the recovery to work the ball into goal.
In the end, 7 extra minutes were added, but Club was unable to threaten Coucke anymore. Thus, this match ended in a scoreless draw. On Thursday Blauw-Zwart will play for group victory in the UEFA Europa Conference League against FK Bodø/Glimt!
Jupiler Pro League - Playday 17
Spectators: 19,500 - AFAS Stadion
Referee: Nicolas Laforge
KV Mechelen: Gaëtan Coucke - Sandy Walsh, David Bates, Elias Cobbaut, Daam Foulon - Mory Konaté, Jordi Vanlerberghe, Rob Schoofs - Geoffry Hairemans (74' Yonas Malede), Norman Bassette (62' Lion Lauberbach), Kerim Mrabti (88' Jannes Van Hecke).
Bank: Yannick Thoelen, Jannes Van Hecke, Yonas Malede, Lion Lauberbach, Ngal'Ayel Mukau, Bilal Bafdili, Patrick Pflücke.
Coach: Besnik Hasi.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Tajon Buchanan (57' Bjorn Meijer), Jorne Spileers, Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper - Casper Nielsen (57' Raphael Onyedika), Hugo Vetlesen, Hans Vanaken - Philip Zinckernagel (57' Andreas Skov Olsen), Igor Thiago, Ferran Jutglà (68' Antonio Nusa).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Nick Shinton, Denis Odoi, Bjorn Meijer, Andreas Skov Olsen, Raphael Onyedika, Éder Balanta, Michal Skóras, Victor Barberà.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
Yellow cards: Foulon, Zinckernagel, De Cuyper, Bates, Hasi, Vanaken, Coucke, Onyedika, Mechele
Red cards: none
Goals: none