Game day 8 of the Jupiler Pro League featured the 'Battle of Flanders' between Club Brugge and KAA Gent. Blauw-Zwart dominated the entire first half, but actually went into halftime with a double deficit after goals by Dean and an owngoal by Ordóñez. Shortly after halftime, the visitors got to 0-3 through Gandelman, but Club was able to respond quickly through Skov Olsen. Bridge's hopes were pushed back by a second goal from Gandelman and Club did not get further than the 2-4 through Nilsson.
Blue-Black played a more than creditable game against Borussia Dortmund last Wednesday. Club played well, created some excellent opportunities and consequently the 0-3 defeat was a far too heavy verdict. Coach Hayen also made this analysis after the match and consequently he made no changes to his starting line-up for the topper against KAA Gent. Onyedika was praised after a strong game and could logically show his potential from the start. The attacking trio consisted of Skov Olsen, Tzolis and Nilsson. The most notable fact in the visitors' starting lineup was the absence of Kums. The Buffalo captain had not recovered sufficiently from an injury.
It was Club that immediately claimed the ball in the opening minutes and this also produced quick danger. Nilsson applied good pressure and this allowed Skov Olsen to get away with the ball. Unfortunately, his low cross did not find a teammate and the threat could be neutralized. The Bridge goalkeepers continued to press and that resulted in a corner kick. De Cuyper played low to rising Seys and his cracked shot was deflected against the crossbar by Mechele. A few minutes later the next big chance came along. De Cuyper put the ball nicely deep for Nilsson and the Swede controlled the ball beautifully and then decided on Roef. In the recovery, Skov Olsen had the opportunity to put Club ahead, but his shot unfortunately did not find the goal frame. The pace dropped slightly after this, but on the quarter hour mark, Blue-Black was there once again. Mignolet sent a long ball to Skov Olsen and his cross reached the infiltrating Vanaken. The captain immediately kicked towards goal, but Roef went well flat. Clearly, Club had deserved a lead for some time, but even Tzolis couldn't get the ball against the nets from close range. Once again Roef was game-changer on duty with a clever save.
We continued to note chance after chance, but Roef claimed the lead time and again. This time Vetlesen tried from outside the sixteen with a placing ball to the far corner, but the Gent goalie stretched well to push the leather into a corner kick. A few minutes later Skov Olsen also went for his chance from outside the sixteen, but his curl landed over Roef's cage. A little after the half-hour mark another corner kick for the home team, and this time De Cuyper found the head of Nilsson. However, he was unable to direct his header sufficiently and consequently did not find the goal frame. The same was true shortly thereafter for Tzolis on a cross from Skov Olsen. Meanwhile, Mignolet remained basically unemployed, but the signs were still balanced. As mentioned, the visitors from Gent hadn't created a single chance, but out of nowhere they took the lead. Surdez had a bit too much time and space to serve Dean and the latter kicked the cross over the post past Mignolet. Club did not have long to recover from this setback, because the game remained the same. A cross from Seys shot through, but Roef again reacted alertly. Gent's goalie then had some luck that Nilsson was off balance in the recovery. At the stroke of halftime, however, Jan Breydel was completely baffled, as the Buffaloes actually took a double lead. A kick from an acute angle landed unhappily against Ordóñez via the post and then into the nets. After a dominant first half with numerous chances, Blue-Black went to rest with a double deficit ...
The second half started with one change on both sides: at Club, Jashari came in for Vetlesen and at Gent, Fadiga was replaced by Samoise. After a few minutes, however, Blauw-Zwart soon had to deal with another thumping. Brown put the ball in front of goal and the infiltrating Gandelman kicked the ball into the roof of the goal past Mignolet. Club was not fazed and reacted immediately! Nilsson extended a long ball with his head, sending Skov Olsen alone towards Roef. The Danish winger remained calm and put the 1-3 against the nets. By scoring quickly against, the home team remained confident to still turn the situation around. Nilsson tried to combine with Skov Olsen and the latter delivered the leather sharply and well in front of goal. At the far post, De Cuyper was waiting to score the tying goal, but he kicked wide of the goal from close range. In the image of the match, Club got the lid back on the nose. The substitute Gudjohnsen pushed forward, held off Mechele and then served Gandelman at the right moment. The latter only had to tap in and scored his second of the afternoon. Blauw-Zwart's reaction again did not last long, as Skov Olsen tried once from distance. Roef tried to clamp the blast, but was lucky when he deviated it just over the crossbar.
The 'Battle of Flanders' thus provided plenty of spectacle and goals, and it was not over yet. After a smooth combination, Tzolis put the ball well low in front of goal and there Nilsson tapped the 2-4 past Roef! In the minutes that followed, the pace slackened a bit and Club found the way to the goal a little harder. Skóraś did try with a low slide, but that posed little problem for Gent's goalie. The Bruggelingen tried to do everything in their power to make up ground, but the Buffaloes were now well organized and did not allow many more goal attempts.
In the end, eight minutes were added, but in it Club did not manage to score anymore. Conclusion: a dominant Blauw-Zwart failed to finish off their numerous chances and came up against a deadly efficient KAA Gent.
Jupiler Pro League - Matchday 8
Spectators: 29,042 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Nicolas Laforge
ClubBrugge: Simon Mignolet - Joaquin Seys (83' Chemsdine Talbi), Brandon Mechele, Joel Ordóñez, Maxim De Cuyper - Raphael Onyedika (58' Ferran Jutglà), Hugo Vetlesen (46' Ardon Jashari), Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen, Gustaf Nilsson (71' Michał Skóraś), Christos Tzolis (71' Romeo Vermant).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Axl De Corte, Zaid Romero, Ferran Jutglà, Romeo Vermant, Michał Skóraś, Casper Nielsen, Ardon Jashari, Hugo Siquet, Kyriani Sabbe, Chemsdine Talbi.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
KAA Gent: Davy Roef - Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Stefan Mitrović, Jordan Torunarigha - Noah Fadiga (46' Matisse Samoise), Omri Gandelman, Atsuki Ito (83' Tiago Araújo) , Mathias Delorge, Archie Brown (83' Núrio Fortuna) - Franck Surdez (73' Pieter Gerkens), Max Dean (62' Andri Gudjohnsen).
Bank: Daniel Schmidt, Zalan Vancsa, Pieter Gerkens, Andri Gudjohnsen, Matisse Samoise, Tiago Araújo, Núrio Fortuna, Tibe De Vlieger, Hélio Varela.
Coach: Wouter Vrancken.
Yellow cards: Ito, Vetlesen, Dean, Nilsson, Samoise, Delorge, De Cuyper, Araújo
Red cards: none
Goals: 40' Dean (0-1), 44' Ordóñez (OG) (0-2), 47' Gandelman (0-3), 48' Skov Olsen (1-3), 64' Gandelman (1-4), 70' Nilsson (2-4)