On the final playing day of the regular competition, Club Brugge headed to Stayen to take on STVV. Jutglà gave Club an early lead in the first half, but in the second half the home side came alongside through Zahiroleslam. Koita popped the Limburgers to victory in the end and so Club goes down 2-1 at Stayen.
Blauw-Zwart recorded an important and virtuous victory against Molde FK last Thursday, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. Coach Deila consequently had little reason to make many changes to his starting line-up, but still had to make two emergency substitutions. De Cuyper (suspended) and Skov Olsen (groin injury) were out of action, giving Sabbe and Skóraś respectively the chance to show their skills from the start. For the rest, we had the same starting line-up as on Thursday against Molde FK.
It was Club that started the match best and immediately circulated the ball well. This resulted fairly quickly in goal danger through a Vetlesen cross and an attempt by Onyedika, but in both phases Suzuki did not have to intervene. Neither did a few minutes later, but then he had to fish the ball out of his nets. Onyedika recovered a poor inswinging pass and immediately launched Jutglà. The Catalan dribbled cleverly free in the center and then took down STVV's Japanese goalie with a punter. Shortly after the joy of the opening goal, Blauw-Zwart suffered a setback. Mignolet suddenly signaled to the bench that he could not continue. Jackers took his place under the crossbar again. However, the visitors did not let it get to them and continued to dominate the game. After a smooth combination on the left flank, Jutglà brought the leather in front of goal and there, at the far post, Sabbe had time and space to strike out. He aimed for the far corner with his inside foot, but Ogawa blocked the shot and prevented worse for the home team.
STVV could do little in return, as all the goal threat came from Club. Skóraś also tried his luck on a dropped ball, but his shot was tapped over the crossbar by Suzuki. On the half hour mark, Ordóñez was also close to scoring his second goal for the visitors, but on a corner kick, he could not get a good shot past Suzuki from close range. After 38 minutes in the first half, both sides noted an excellent opportunity. First, Zahiroleslam was sent in deep by Koita and Jackers had to make a save to prevent the equalizer. Almost immediately after this, Skóraś brought the ball low in front of goal to the second post where Vanaken appeared. The Club captain immediately went for his chance, but the leather got stuck between Suzuki's legs. The home team was now more comfortable in the match and came up once more. The ball was played centrally where Ito went for his chance from just outside the sixteen, but his shot went over Jackers' cage. Shortly before halftime, the Japanese undertook another attempt from a slightly wider distance, but again Club's goalie was not to intervene. It was clear that the Limburgers mainly tried from outside the penalty area, but even Steuckers could not get the ball inside the goal frame. The same was true for Koita when he tried from an acute angle. The final chord was still for Blauw-Zwart, but Jutglà could not put enough power on his header to put Suzuki in danger. So we rested with a, all in all, deserved lead for Club....
The second half started without any new substitutions on either side and this time it was the home team that tried to continue on the momentum of the end of the first half. Koita put himself behind the ball for a free kick on the side, but the Limburgers had a rehearsed number in mind. The ball was played sideways to Ito, who let the ball through his legs, giving Steuckers space to kick immediately. Fortunately for Club, his shot was blocked. Moments later, Ordóñez allowed the leather to be snatched away too easily by Zahiroleslam and the latter was able to head alone at Jackers. Fortunately, the striker hesitated too long and failed to get past Club's closing goal. Consequently, this was where the Brugge players got away well, but shortly before the hour the equalizer was a fact. Steuckers played the ball wide to Ogawa, who put the ball in front of goal. There Zahiroleslam was ready to head the equalizer into the net. Coach Deila intervened by bringing Nusa and Nielsen onto the field and the latter had a good opportunity fairly soon. Vanaken put the ball behind the STVV defense and Nielsen tried to outsmart Suzuki with the outside right. The Japanese goalie prevented a new lead for the visitors with a leg sweep. The other substitute, namely Nusa, also asserted himself with a typical action inside and then a kick to the far corner. However, STVV's goalkeeper remained the Truienaars' best man in this phase with another fine save.
A good quarter of an hour before the end, things could still go either way in this match and that was also evident in the goal threat. The home team tried once with a distance shot by Ogawa, but without any problems for Jackers. Club responded with a header from Thiago on a cross from Skóraś, but the Brazilian striker could not frame his attempt. Shortly after, Club got away very well when STVV was awarded a penalty kick after a foul by Ordóñez on Kaya. The latter put himself behind the ball, but hit the post. Unfortunately, this turned out to be just a stay of execution, because moments later the 2-1 was still on the board. Koita was given too much time and space to take a shot from outside the penalty area and he smashed it past Jackers.
Six minutes of added time came and coach Deila made a few more offensive substitutions. However, Club could not recover from this late blow-up and the regular league unfortunately ended on a false note.
Jupiler Pro League - Game Day 30
Spectators: 14.600 - Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium
Referee: Kevin Van Damme
Sint-Truiden VV: Zion Suzuki - Rein Van Helden, Matte Smets, Bruno Godeau - Frederic Ananou (74' Robert-Jan Vanwesemael), Ryotaro Ito (67' Joel Chima Fujita), Mathias Delorge, Ryoya Ogawa - Jarne Steuckers (88' Joselpho Barnes), Kahveh Zahiroleslam (74' Fatih Kaya), Aboubakary Koita (88' Rihito Yamamoto).
Bank: Jo Coppens, Wolke Janssens, Robert-Jan Vanwesemael, Rihito Yamamoto, Joel Chima Fujita, Olivier Dumont, Fatih Kaya, Joselpho Barnes, Adriano Bertaccini.
Coach: Thorsten Fink.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet (10' Nordin Jackers) - Kyriani Sabbe (86' Victor Barberá), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer - Raphael Onyedika, Hugo Vetlesen (60' Casper Nielsen), Hans Vanaken - Michał Skóraś (86' Chemsdine Talbi), Igor Thiago, Ferran Jutglà (60' Antonio Nusa).
Bank: Nordin Jackers, Josef Bursik, Jorne Spileers, Dedryck Boyata, Joaquin Seys, Casper Nielsen, Éder Balanta, Antonio Nusa, Chemsdine Talbi, Victor Barberá.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
Yellow cards: Sabbe
Red cardsnone
Goals: 6' Jutglà (0-1), 59' Zahiroleslam (1-1), 85' Koita (2-1)
