Club Brugge recorded a smooth 2-0 victory against STVV on their own field. Tresoldi gave Blauw-Zwart an early lead and Forbs provided the final decision after the break. On the hour, the visitors had to continue with ten after Merlen's red card, but no more goals were scored. Thanks to this victory, Club temporarily increased its lead over Union to four points.
Ivan Leko made two forced substitutions to the team that won at Anderlecht last week. Nordin Jackers was still out of contention and Simon Mignolet only just back from injury, and so Dani van den Heuvel was allowed to take his place in goal. In midfield, Hugo Vetlesen was missing due to suspension. Raphaël Onyedika had to withdraw with a minor injury, leaving Cisse Sandra to start.
STVV had gained confidence last week by beating Union at home. The Canaries also started very strongly against Club, tapping the ball around smoothly during the initial phase. It took ten minutes before Blauw-Zwart got close to goalkeeper Kokubo for the first time: after a nice action by Forbs, a shot by Stanković went well over. In the thirteenth minute came the first real chance and immediately the first goal. Mechele launched Seys on the left, who laid the ball back to Tzolis. The Greek played the ball to Tresoldi in the sixteen meters, who kicked the ball into the far corner.
This lead gave wings to the Brugge players, as chance after chance suddenly followed: Kokubo saved shots by Stanković and Forbs, an attempt by Tresoldi was blocked and Vanaken kicked a good chance over goal. Ten minutes before halftime, the Limburgers were able to counter, but Seys was just able to clear a Sebaoui cross. Two more good chances followed for Club, but Kokubo saved Vanaken's and Tzolis' shots.
After the break, the Canaries tried to put up some resistance, but Club quickly regained command and scored a second time after just over five minutes. After STVV lost the ball, Tzolis was able to intercept and serve Carlos Forbs, who scored the 2-0 in one go. The Limburgers tried to respond, but Van den Heuvel had no problem with a shot from Sebaoui. At the other end, Siquet's shot sailed over the goal.
STVV continued to take risks at the back and got into more trouble on the hour. After a clumsy ball loss, Tresoldi's goal was disallowed as offside, but Merlen had tackled Stanković from behind, denying the midfielder a goal. At the suggestion of VAR, Vergoote went to look at the footage and decided to send Merlen off the field.
The last half hour turned into a game of cat and mouse with plenty of chances for Club. Tresoldi headed narrowly wide, a shot by Sandra was swept off the line, Kokubo saved attempts by Tresoldi and Vermant, while Forbs just failed to capitalize on a cross. At the other end, Van den Heuvel made a fine save on a shot by Goto. Numerous chances followed in the closing stages as well. A shot by Forbs hit the underside of the crossbar via Pupe's head, while attempts by Vanaken and Siquet fell just short. It remained 2-0 and Club increased its lead over Union to four points for the time being.
Champions' Play-offs - Day 7
Spectators: 28,000 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Jasper Vergoote
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Hugo Siquet, Joel Ordóñez (81' Jorne Spileers), Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys (81' Bjorn Meijer) - Aleksandar Stanković (81' Lynnt Audoor), Cisse Sandra, Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs (88' Mamadou Diakhon), Nicolò Tresoldi (73' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis. Bench: Simon Mignolet, Ludovit Reis, Félix Lemaréchal and Gustaf Nilsson. Coach: Ivan Leko.
Sint-Truiden VV: Leo Kokubo - Taiga Hata (64' Simen Juklerod), Visar Musliu, Shogo Taniguchi (81' Oumar Diouf), Joedrick Pupe - Robert-Jan Vanwesemael, Abdoulaye Sissako (81' Alouis Diriken), Ryotaro Ito (82' Loïc Mbo Soh), Ryan Merlen, Ilias Sebaoui (74' Kaito Matsuzawa) - Keisuke Goto. Coach: Wouter Vrancken
Yellow cards: Taniguchi
Red cards: 63' Merlen.
Goals: 13' Tresoldi (1-0), 52' Forbs (2-0).