Club Brugge lost the topper against Anderlecht 1-2. Ferran Jutglà brought Blauw-Zwart to the lead after twenty minutes, but Club still went down in the closing stages after goals from substitutes Vazquez and Angulo.
Ronny Deila made three changes to the team that played a draw in last week's city derby against Cercle. At the back, Jorne Spileers took the place of Joel Ordóñez, while in midfield Hugo Vetlesen celebrated his comeback, at the expense of Éder Balanta. Up front, Ferran Jutglà replaced the suspended Igor Thiago.
Club wanted to make up some of its ground against the Brusselers and thus started very eagerly. Despite the ball possession for Blauw-Zwart, the first danger came from Anderlecht. A shot by Dolberg flew - from offside - into the side-netting. The Bruggelingen responded with a fine attack that ended with a shot by Vetlesen just over the crossbar. Moments later, a shot by Nusa was blocked, while then Skov Olsen just failed to serve the young Norwegian. In between, a goal by Dreyer was disallowed because of prior offside by Dolberg.
After an intense opening phase, it was Club Brugge that took the lead after just under 20 minutes. A deviated cross from Nusa was headed back in front of goal by Vanaken, where Ferran Jutglà was able to tap in the 1-0 from close range. Anderlecht responded with a hard shot by Stroeykens, but Mignolet saved. After that, things went quiet for a while, but after half an hour Dolberg suddenly seemed to score the equalizer. However, the goal was disallowed due to hand play by Hazard. Moments later, a hard shot by Jutglà went just wide and, at the other end, Mignolet easily grabbed a free kick from Hazard.
After the break, both teams started again with abandon. A header by Vanaken was swept away by Sardella just before the goal line, while at the other end a header by Hazard went wide. The visitors did come up with more and more. A shot by Dolberg went over the crossbar and then it took a fine save from Mignolet to beat a blast from the Danish striker.
Ronny Deila threw in Balanta on the hour to add a little more power to his midfield. There was plenty of fight, but few clear-cut chances. Attempts by De Cuyper, Jutglà and Vanaken were unsuccessful. Anderlecht added an extra striker with Luis Vazquez a quarter of an hour before time and that substitution had an immediate impact. After a cross from Hazard, the Argentine headed in the equalizer.
Blauw-Zwart then went in search of the winning goal, but a shot by De Cuyper was blocked, while a header by Vanaken was saved by Schmeichel. The Danish goalkeeper then also went well flat on attempts by Skov Olsen and Nusa. The match seemed to be heading for a 1-1 draw, but that was beyond the reach of substitute Nilson Angulo. After a cross from Dreyer, the striker gave Club a cold shower in extremis.
Jupiler Pro League - Matchday 27
Spectators: 29,000 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Erik Lambrechts
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Maxim De Cuyper, Jorne Spileers, Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer (87' Michał Skóraś) - Casper Nielsen (61' Éder Balanta), Hugo Vetlesen, Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen, Ferran Jutglà, Antonio Nusa (87' Víctor Barberá). Bench: Joe Bursik, Nordin Jackers, Joel Ordóñez, Denis Odoi, Raphael Onyedika and Kyriani Sabbe. Coach: Ronny Deila.
RSC Anderlecht: Kasper Schmeichel - Killian Sardella (76' Louis Patris), Zeno Debast, Jan Vertonghen, Ludwig Augustinsson - Mario Stroeykens, Mats Rits (76' Luis Vazquez), Yari Verschaeren (52' Théo Leoni) - Anders Dreyer, Kasper Dolberg (89' Nilson Angulo), Thorgan Hazard. Coach: Brian Riemer.
Yellow cards: Sardella, Dolberg, Vertonghen.
Red cards: none
Goals: 18' Jutglà (1-0), 79' Vazquez (1-1), 91' Angulo (1-2).
