On matchday 14 of the Jupiler Pro League, Club traveled to Het Kiel to take on straggler Beerschot. Blauw-Zwart started the match excellently and had already secured a double lead after 15 minutes after goals by Vermant and Seys. Yet the win was still given away in the second half after two goals by Al-Sahafi. Thus, Club goes into the international break with a point tie at 't Kiel.
Blauw-Zwart had one of those magical European nights on Wednesday by knocking off Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League. Given the busy schedule, coach Hayen opted to rotate a bit in his squad for the confrontation with Beerschot. For example, at left back Meijer was given preference over De Cuyper and in the offensive compartment Vermant was again chosen. Thus, Jutglà had to content himself with a substitute role. Finally, Onyedika also rejoined the starting lineup at the expense of Nielsen. The Nigerian midfielder was suspended against Aston Villa, but now simply resumed his position alongside Vanaken and Jashari.
In fact, the match couldn't have started any better for Club, as after only three minutes the Bruges players were able to open the scoring! Jashari sent a nice deep ball for Meijer and he laid the leather perfectly aside in one time. Vermant anticipated this well and so slid the ball against the nets. There was a check for prior offside by Meijer, but eventually the early lead was approved. Ten minutes later, Vermant again created danger when he popped up well in front of his man at the first post on a sharp cross. However, Shinton also reacted alertly and so the ball disappeared into a corner kick. The only goal danger continued to come from Blauw-Zwart and just before the quarter hour mark the score was doubled! With a nice ball touch, Vanaken crossed the ball deep for Meijer, who immediately signed for his second assist of the evening. This time Seys was the finisher on duty with a well-placed shot into the corner. Beerschot did not come out of it soccer-wise, but was dangerous on a stoppage time. Mbe Soh popped up at the far post to put the ball in front of goal, but there was no teammate there (fortunately for Club).
Beerschot got into the game a bit better now, and halfway through the first half Verlinden tried his luck from a free kick. His attempt was framed, but posed no problem for Mignolet. Moments later, Club's goalie had to take good action. Al Ghamdi poked the ball deep for Al-Sahafi, who kicked beautifully from an acute angle. Mignolet went to ground quickly, however, and stretched well to keep the effort out of his cage. Al-Sahafi did remain the home team's most dangerous man, but after an interception he missed his shot and kicked far wide of goal. On the stroke of halftime Club also threatened, but Vermant just couldn't reach a sharp cross. This was also the last goal threat of the first half and so we rested 0-2.
Blue-Black started the second half with the same eleven tenors and they again immediately sought Shinton's goal. That soon resulted in an opportunity for Tzolis, but the Greek winger's attempt ended up in a corner via a purple foot over goal. That corner then provided the chance for 0-3, but Meijer missed incomprehensibly from close range. Five minutes later, however, the visitors were startled. Fayed sent a long ball to Al-Sahafi, who just slipped through the offside trap. He then rounded Mignolet to easily kick the tying goal into the net. Club had to recover from this, but a few minutes later they were dealt another blow. Al-Sahafi was again the tormentor and this time via a dribble past Mechele. The Saudi Arabian passed the Bruges defender at speed before sliding the equalizer past Mignolet. Coach Hayen immediately made a double substitution, bringing on Spileers and Skóraś for Ordóñez and Skov Olsen. At first, this did not do much good, as it was Beerschot that created new goal danger. Just outside the penalty area, Konstantopoulos pulled the trigger and Mignolet had to do everything he could to keep the shot out of his goal.
Halfway through the second half, Club came back on top and that resulted in a few opportunities. On a corner kick Vanaken was free to head in, but the captain unfortunately did so in the arms of Shinton. Two minutes later Beerschot's goalie had more trouble on an attempt by Meijer in the sixteen, but he was able to clip the ball just before the goal line. The next ten minutes in the match were marked mainly by several substitutions and fouls with several players needing care. The biggest victim was Seys, who was forced to leave the field with a painful grimace. Consequently, until the end of regular playing time, no concrete goal threat was noted.
An extra eight minutes were played, and in it Club tried to pull out all the stops to still get the win. Sabbe tried once on a dropped ball with a controlled volley, but unfortunately he could not frame his shot. Moments later, Onyedika also went for his chance from outside the sixteen, but his blast was a deflection and went well wide of Shinton's cage. The last opportunity was for Tzolis, but from the turn the Greek kicked high over goal. Thus Blauw-Zwart finally gave away a double lead and have to be satisfied with a point at Het Kiel.
Jupiler Pro League - Playday 14
Spectators: 12,771 - Het Kiel
Referee: Bram Van Driessche
Beerschot VA: Nick Shinton - Apostolos Konstantopoulos, Loïc Mbe Soh, Omar Fayed, Brain Plat - Colin Dagba (78' Charly Keita), Faisal Al-Ghamdi, Dean Huiberts (46' Ewan Henderson), Thibaud Verlinden (77' Tom Reyners) - Marwan Al-Sahafi (87' Ar'jany Martha), Antoine Colassin (90+7' Ayouba Kosiah).
Bank: Davor Matijas, Tom Reyners, Ewan Henderson, Ayouba Kosiah, Florian Krüger, Xander Joosen, Charly Keita, Ar'jany Martha, Félix Nzouango.
Coach: Dirk Kuyt.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Joaquin Seys (75' Kyriani Sabbe), Brandon Mechele, Joel Ordóñez (57' Jorne Spileers), Bjorn Meijer - Raphael Onyedika, Ardon Jashari (90' Casper Nielsen), Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen (57' Michał Skóraś), Romeo Vermant (75' Ferran Jutglà), Christos Tzolis.
Bank: Nordin Jackers, Dani van den Heuvel, Zaid Romero, Hugo Siquet, Michał Skóraś, Jorne Spileers, Maxim De Cuyper, Casper Nielsen, Hugo Vetlesen, Kyriani Sabbe, Ferran Jutglà.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow cards: Ordóñez, Tzolis, Mechele, Huiberts
Red cards: none
Goals: 3' Vermant (0-1), 14' Seys (0-2), 52' Al-Sahafi (1-2), 55' Al-Sahafi (2-2)