Club Brugge recorded a big 1-6 victory on the field of RWDM. Blauw-Zwart had already grabbed a double lead within fifteen minutes thanks to goals by Thiago and Zinckernagel, and on the stroke of halftime Skov Olsen added to the books. After the break Thiago completed his hat-trick and Hans Vanaken also scored.
Ronny Deila was forced by injury to make two substitutions to the team that beat AA Gent on Sunday. Jorne Spileers took the place of Joel Ordóñez at the back center, while in midfield Hugo Vetlesen replaced Casper Nielsen. During the outward round, Club inflicted a 7-1 defeat on RWDM, but the Brusselers were not about to be slaughtered again. Blauw-Zwart went on the attack from the opening minute, but the first danger came from the home team: Mercier's cross was a bit too high, preventing Gueye from framing his header.
For Club, that was the signal to shift up a gear and that immediately yielded results. Zinckernagel curled the ball cleverly in front of goal and Igor Thiago headed the 0-1 hard. A few minutes later, the roles were reversed. After a deep ball from Vanaken, Thiago could only just put the ball in front of goal, where Philip Zinckernagel tapped in the 0-2 from close range. Thus, the Bruges players were already in a comfortable position after fifteen minutes.
RWDM tried to respond, but got no further than a free kick by Mercier that was saved by Mignolet and a punt by Gueye that went wide. Club was not impressed and came ever closer to a third goal: after a lay-back by Thiago, a shot by Zinckernagel went just wide and immediately after, the Dane aimed the leather straight at goalkeeper Defourny. The 0-3 finally fell on the stroke of half-time: Andreas Skov Olsen cut inside and curled the leather deliciously into the goal via the far post.
After the break, Bruges continued their momentum. A free kick by Zinckernagel momentarily lingered in front of goal, after which goalkeeper Defourny brought down Thiago. Ref Brent Staessens pointed to the spot and that was right up Igor Thiago's alley. The Brazilian kicked the eleven-meter straight and scored the 0-4. Immediately afterwards, Club had to allow a counter goal: after a deep ball, Ilay Camara was able to save the honor for RWDM.
Bruges' hunger was not yet satisfied, as a fifth goal followed after twenty minutes in the second half. Staessens initially turned a blind eye to a foul on Thiago, but after reviewing the footage he pointed to the spot. Defourny parried Thiago's penalty, but the Brazilian was able to complete his hat-trick in the rebound. Twenty minutes before time, the 1-6 followed: after a cross from Zinckernagel, Vanaken headed in from close range.
In the closing stages, Club just failed to win 7-1 like in the first round: Defourny pushed a Balanta header over the crossbar, a hard kick by Nusa whizzed over goal, Mechele and Jutglà were a toe short of pushing in a Zinckernagel free kick, and a Skóraś cross was cleared just in front of Jutglà. So it remained 1-6, allowing Blauw-Zwart to look forward to Tuesday's match against Union with confidence.
Jupiler Pro League - Playday 19
Spectators: 10,000 - Edmond Machtensstadion
Referee: Brent Staessens
RWDM: Théo Defourny - Moussa Sissako, William Klaus (76' Matteo Vandendaele), Youssouf Koné (65' Theo Gece) - Ilay Camara, Pierre Dwomoh (85' Floran Sanchez), Shuto Abe, Xavier Mercier (46' Djovkar Doudaev), Felipe Abner - Makhtar Gueye, Pathé Mboup. Coach: Claudio Caçapa.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Maxim De Cuyper, Jorne Spileers, Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer (38' Denis Odoi) - Hugo Vetlesen (66' Éder Balanta), Raphael Onyedika (77' Michał Skóraś), Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen (66' Antonio Nusa), Igor Thiago (66' Ferran Jutglà), Philip Zinckernagel. Bench: Nordin Jackers and Dedryck Boyata. Coach: Ronny Deila.
Yellow cards: Thiago, Koné, Skóraś.
Red cards: none
Goals: 9' Thiago (0-1), 13' Zinckernagel (0-2), 45+1' Skov Olsen (0-3), 55' Thiago (penalty, 0-4), 56' Camara (1-4), 64' Thiago (1-5), 72' Vanaken (1-6).