A job well done for Club Brugge as it sailed past Eupen through goals by Nielsen, Jutglà, Skov Olsen and Mechele.
Still a lot of work at the drawing board for coach Deila, dealing with a suspended Vanaken and Thiago, and seeing Vetlesen and Zinckernagel out injured. To boot, Onyedika's Nigeria played the Africa Cup Final, ruling him out for the game. The recovered De Cuyper and Nusa both made their way to the Starting XI, where they joined Michał Skóraś at kick-off. Nusa played in the Vanaken position, while Jutglà found his way back to the heart of attack.
An early header by Jutglà showcased the hosts' fine intentions, but Eupen's fiesty forwards were also a force to reckon with. Nuhu put Charles-Cook through on goal, but Mignolet beat him to the ball just outside the box. A warning sign for Club, shifting gears now to avoid further damage. A Nielsen shot went off Jutglà over goal, while Nusa also couldn't make the most of a neat through-ball by Skóraś. Club kept coming, and the logical opener followed quickly: Nusa with a bit of magic on the left hand side, sailing past two Eupen defenders, and getting the ball to Nielsen off Möhwald, and one hard low shot later the score was 1-0.
Not taken aback, the visitors tried their luck through Möhwald and Pantovic, but it was Blue and Black that came closest to furthering the score, seeing Balanta's header go just wide, Davidson clearing a Skóraś cross just in time, and Jutglà not getting a good touch to the ball upon a corner kick. Thirty minutes into the game a second Club goal finally followed: another fine Nusa action ended up with Nielsen on the right wing, aiming for the bottom left hand corner where Jutglà followed up neatly after Slonina's save. No more goals in the final minutes of the first half, as Skóraś was unable to find Jutglà in front of goal, and Mechele's header clumsily went wide of target.
The openiing minutes of the second half came with a solid chance for the visitors, Mignolet being forced to paw away a goalbound acute cross. Club remained in charge, however, clearly on the lookout to kill the game with that third home goal. Chances for Skóraś, De Cuyper and Jutglà all went missing.
Just past the hour mark, Jutglà was found on the left hand side, cutting inside with some fancy footwork, but his shot came off a defender in ccorner kick. Moments later, Meijer's cracker went over. A goal seemed in the making, and it finally came with fifteen minutes to go: Skóraś with the recovery finding Skov Olsen deep,and three touches to the ball later the ball was against the back of the nets after a vintage Skov Olsen left-footed curl. Straight after the goal, Skóraś saw his shot blocked, but two minutes later a fourth goal really cut off the visitors: Mechele finding De Cuyper on the right hand side, and then heading in the ensuing cross in the far corner.
The final minutes of the game saw playing time for Barberá and Homma, while Ivory Coast defender Bi Abdoul Kader Yameogo also made his official Club debut in a night to remember, as his country was winning the Africa Cup at the same time. The victory brings Club a tad closer to leaders Union, stuck at a home draw against Westerlo.
Jupiler Pro League – Match Day 25
Audience: 26,000 – Jan Breydel Stadium
Ref: Mr. Jan Boterberg
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Maxim De Cuyper, Jorne Spileers (85’ Bi Abdoul Kader Yameogo), Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer (79’ Kyriani Sabbe) – Casper Nielsen, Éder Balanta (79’ Denis Odoi), Antonio Nusa (79’ Víctor Barberá) – Andreas Skov Olsen, Ferran Jutglà (85’ Shion Homma), Michał Skóraś. Bench: Joe Bursik, Nordin Jackers and Dedryck Boyata. Coach: Ronny Deila.
KAS Eupen: Gabriel Slonina - Rune Paeshuyse ( 68’ Yentl Van Genechten), Victor Pálsson, Aleksandr Filin, Jason Davidson – Gary Magnée (29’ Amadou Keita), Boris Lambert (68’ Brandon Baiye), Kevin Möhwald (81’ Alfred Finnbogason), Milos Pantovic (68’ Shayne Pattynama) - Isaac Nuhu, Regan Charles-Cook. Coach: Florian Kohfeldt.
Yellow: Filin, Baiye.
Red: none
Goals: 14’ Nielsen (1-0), 30’ Jutglà (2-0), 75’ Skov Olsen (3-0), 78’ Mechele (4-0).
