After the painful loss in PSG, our youngsters faced league leader Genk. Under the watchful eye of coach Philippe Clement, Otasowie, Persyn, Lammens and Pérez started from the first team.
Both teams kept each other well balanced from the start. A free kick by Aelterman disappeared into the pack, but no one could extend in goal. Defender Sylla advanced on the attack and gave a clever through pass through the Genk defense, but captain Blomme just couldn't reach it. On a counterattack by the Limburgers, Hautekiet slipped, allowing Abid to march alone toward the Bruges goal. Goalkeeper Lammens tried in vain to prevent the 0-1. Fortunately, Blauwzwart was soon able to net the equalizer. De Roeve launched Persyn. He popped hard at goal, the Genk goallie unloaded the ball. Pérez followed well and kicked in the 1-1. John Kelvin then headed a Genk effort wide of goal. On the other side, Nusa kicked high over the crossbar after a nice individual action. The very active De Roeve saw his effort on the stroke of half time stopped by goalkeeper Chambaere. The tie at half time was an accurate reflection of the match.
The first chance after halftime was for Genk. Diawara luckily popped over Lammens' goal. De Roeve then tackled perfectly in the penalty area and launched a nice attack by Club NXT. He gave an assist to Nusa who unfortunately was blocked on his way to the 2-1. Ball loss in midfield almost ended fatally. Goalkeeper Lammens saved on the goal line. Shortly after, Genk kicked the ball into the side netting. Club NXT struggled for a while, but recovered the balance fifteen minutes before time and went in search of the winning goal. Goalkeeper Lammens kicked far out in the direction of Nusa, who served the nimble Persyn. However, he was wrongly flagged for offside. Genk threatened once more but fortunately the ball went just wide of the post. The substitute Vermant saw Pérez standing free, but the Venezuelan was ultimately blocked, preventing him from scoring his second of the evening. Club NXT got a number of corner kicks towards the end of the match. Scoring unfortunately did not succeed. The Genk goallie prevented blue and black from keeping the three points at home. So the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The first points loss for the leader. A nice result for Club NXT after the disappointment in Paris. The next match of our youngsters is the cup game in Charleroi on Monday, December 20. The league only resumes after the New Year
Club Brugge: Senne Lammens, Tibo Persyn, Ibe Hautekiet, Abakar Sylla, Kyriani Sabbe, Ebeguowen Otasowie (51' English), Antonio Nusa, Daniel Pérez, Xander Blomme, Denzel De Roeve, Noah Aelterman (65' Vermant).
Coach: Rik De Mil.
RC Genk: Vic Chambaere, Yentl Van Genechten, Matisse Didden, Wout Coomans (46' Lucas Beerten), Tuur Rommens, Maarten Swerts, Pius Kelvin John, Kamiel Van De Perre, Sekou Diawara (89' Dario Cutillas-Carpe), Bilal El Khannouss (78' Arne Cuypers), Adnane Abid.
Coach: Hans Somers.
Goals: 15' Abid 1-0, 20' Pérez 1-1.
Yellow cards: Van De Perre.
Stadium: The Nest Roeselare.