Club suffers a 0-4 defeat at the hands of FC Porto

Club Brugge's fabulous Champions League run so far was brutally put to a halt by FC Porto, claiming a 0-4 win on Club turf. Despite the result, Club remains in top spot in Group B.

With Sowah out suspended after his sending off at Atlético Madrid, coach Hoefkens was forced to make a change to the team that had done so well in Madrid, offering Noa Lang a first CL start, joining Ferran Jutglà up front. Another start for Abakar Sylla too, reclaiming his place in the heart of defense. Compared to last Sunday's game at Union, Boyata and Meijer made way in the Starting XI.

Lang started out in fine spirits, creating some magic on the left wing joined by Buchanan, but the Dutchman was unable to get the ball to Nielsen well enough. Last month's 0-4 at Porto had left the visitors wanting revenge, and the team from the Portuguese capital applied high pressure, making it hard on Club to find the way out. Sérgio Conceição's team was able to ask the Club defense some questions early on, as Eustaquio, left all alone, fired theball over, a deflected shot by Evanilson went just over, and Taremi, through on goal, was unable to frame his attempt. Club's sole opportunity came through a Skov Olsen cross, pawed away by Diogo Costa just before it reached Jutglà.

Unable to reach the high level of the last CL games, Club went through a tight spot upon the half hour mark as Galeno's volley went wide chipping off his team mate Evanilson. But it was to no avail. Mechele's risky ball through midfield was intercepted, leaving him out of position and hapless as Taremi was sent through by Otavio, the former neatly placing the ball past Mignolet in goal to see Club suffer a goal for the first time this CL campaign. With the break in clear view, Club tried reacting, but the final pass always went missing. First, Lang was unable to get it to Jutglà, and a bit later, Skov Olsen could not single out any team mates inside the box.

Straight out of the dressing room, Club had a great opportunity to bring back tension to the encounter. A corner kick saw some rumble inside the box, with Carmo tapping Mechele, and after consulting the footage, English ref Michael Oliver pointed towards the spot. Hans Vanaken saw his attempt saved by Diogo Costa, but the goalie had left his goal line too early, forcing the ref to have the penalty kick retaken. Noa Lang now tried his luck, but again Costa had a superb reflex in store to deny the equaliser.

A pivotal moment it turned out to be, as instead of 1-1 the score went to 0-3 in a matter of minutes. Club's defense didn't look all that great as the ball couldn't be cleared, and Evanilson made the most of that bit of luck to fire in Porto's second. Minutes later some great combining put Eustaquio eye to eye with Mignolet, rattling the ball out of his cage, but unfortunately the goalie had no reply to the Canadian's second attempt. Adding salt to injury, Otavio pulled back well to set up Taremi after another fabulous attack, and the Iranian did not falter, scoring his second of the night.

The dying minutes of the game saw a working Club, trying to salvage the team's honour. Lang saw his shot clutched by Costa, Jutglà came just short of tapping in Lang's cross to the first post, and that same Jutglà found Costa twice on his way too. The final word was for Meijer, whose header also missed target. Despite the defeat Club remains in first place in Group B. Next week, Leverkusen will be the destination to try and hold on to that coveted first place.

Champions League: Group B – Matchday 5
Attendance: 29,000 – Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Michael Oliver (Eng)
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Denis Odoi (71’ Bjorn Meijer), Brandon Mechele, Abakar Sylla (71’ Dedryck Boyata) – Andreas Skov Olsen (71’ Antonio Nusa), Casper Nielsen (80’ Lynnt Audoor), Raphael Onyedika (80’ Éder Balanta), Hans Vanaken, Tajon Buchanan – Ferran Jutglà, Noa Lang. Bench: Senne Lammens, Cyle Larin, Roman Yaremchuk and Cisse Sandra. Coach: Carl Hoefkens.
FC Porto: Diogo Costa – Pepe (88’ Rodrigo Conceiçao), Fabio Cardoso, David Carmo, Zaidu Sanusi (77’ Wendell) - Otavio, Matheus Uribe, Stephen Eustaquio (77’ Bruno Costa), Wenderson Galeno (77’ Gabriel Veron) - Mehdi Taremi, Evanilson (88’ Toni Martinez). Coach: Sérgio Conceição.
Yellow cards: Odoi, Eustaquio, Otavio, Carmo, Sylla, Onyedika, Uribe.
Red cards: none
Goals: 33’ Taremi (0-1), 57’ Evanilson (0-2), 60’ Eustaquio (0-3), 70’ Taremi (0-4).