Club goes down 0-3 against AA Gent

Club Brugge failed to qualify for the cup final. Indeed, Blauw-Zwart went down 0-3 against AA Gent on their own field. Club dominated the first half but an efficient Gent scored twice before halftime. Immediately after the break, Odoi received a red card and Depoitre made the final decision.

Alfred Schreuder chose the same team that swept Antwerp on Sunday. Charles De Ketelaere had recovered from his shoulder injury and covid infection, but was not yet fit enough to start. Adamyan thus started again as the deepest striker, with Noa Lang in support. Buchanan and Skov Olsen again took charge of the flanks. Blauw-Zwart had won the outward game in Gent 0-1, but that bonus was gone after just a minute and a half of play. Odjidja took a cleared free kick in one go and saw the leather disappear into goal via Nsoki's body.

A cold shower for Club, which then immediately shifted up two gears. The Bruges players put a lot of pressure, played at a fast pace and pushed the Buffaloes backwards. A good chance followed after ten minutes, but Skov Olsen just couldn't slide in a deep ball from Vanaken. Soon after, Vanaken intercepted a pass from Roef, who turned the Limburger's shot into a corner kick. The Gent goalkeeper then also made a save on an attempt by Adamyan.

The visitors cracked but did not budge and struck mercilessly ten minutes before halftime. Mignolet first parried a hard shot by De Sart, but then had to give in on a Castro-Montes ball. Club seemed upset for a moment and got away well five minutes later when Depoitre's header hit the post. The Bruges players tried to score before half-time, but the Gent organization was not strong enough.

After the break, Blauw-Zwart immediately went in search of a goal: a cross-shot by Adamyan went wide and Buchanan could not frame his attempt either. Scoring did not happen and to make matters worse, Club had to continue early on with ten men. Denis Odoi wriggled away from Tissoudali, but hit the striker in the face and received his second yellow card. To make matters worse, Blauw-Zwart swallowed a third goal immediately afterwards, when Depoitre headed in a cross from Samoise.

Club faced an almost impossible task, but pulled forward with all their might. Roef saved a shot from Nsoki and a blast from Mata whizzed over goal. Alfred Schreuder still tried to turn the tide with a triple substitution: Dost, Balanta and Sobol replaced Adamyan, Rits and Skov Olsen. Club continued to push, but a hard shot by Mata was deflected and a header by Vanaken went over goal. On the other side, Tissoudali slipped through the offside trap, but the striker aimed the leather wide.

The visitors continued to defend well, making it very difficult for Club with a man less to create openings. In the end, Mignolet had to save Nurio's shot. In the final minutes Lang threatened twice, but first his shot went wide and then his free kick went just over the crossbar.

Croky Cup - Semi-final (back)
Spectators: 20.000 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Erik Lambrechts
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Clinton Mata (82' Cisse Sandra), Brandon Mechele, Stanley Nsoki (74' Federico Ricca) - Andreas Skov Olsen (63' Eduard Sobol), Mats Rits (63' Éder Balanta), Denis Odoi, Hans Vanaken, Tajon Buchanan - Sargis Adamyan (63' Bas Dost), Noa Lang. Bench: Senne Lammens, Ruud Vormer and Lynnt Audoor. Coach: Alfred Schreuder.
KAAGent: Davy Roef - Joseph Okumu, Michael Ngadeu, Jordan Torunarigha (76' Andreas Hanche-Olsen) - Matisse Samoise (81' Nurio Fortuna), Julien De Sart, Vadis Odjidja (76' Andrew Hjulsager), Sven Kums, Alessio Castro-Montes - Laurent Depoitre, Tarik Tissoudali. Coach: Hein Vanhaezebrouck.
Yellow cards: Odoi, De Sart, Tissoudali, Torunarigha, Vanaken, Samoise, Hanche-Olsen.
Red cards: 53' Odoi (2x yellow).
Goals: 2' Odjidja (0-1), 35' Castro-Montes (0-2), 54' Depoitre (0-3).

Text: Steven Floin