Club Brugge drew 1-1 against Union after an intense topper. The Brusselers took the lead against the run of play after a header by Nilsson. Shortly after the break, Igor Thiago deservedly equalized from the spot, but Club did not get any further.
Ronny Deila made only one substitution after the big win against RWDM: Antonio Nusa replaced Philip Zinckernagel at left forward. Blauw-Zwart counted 14 points behind the Brusselers and obviously did not want to suffer further damage. Club's last defeat dated back to early November against Union. Alexander Blessin's team was working on an impressive series. In the past 13 league games, the Brussels club only lost two points to AA Gent. The other 12 matches yielded wins each time.
Club immediately pushed the gas pedal firmly and pushed Union completely away during the initial phase. A deviation by Vanaken deflected off a defender, a Skov Olsen deflection went wide and a low Nusa cross was cleared just in front of Vanaken. The best chance followed after ten minutes: a failed shot by De Cuyper ended up with Thiago, but the striker was too surprised and tapped the ball just wide. Moments later, the Brazilian was unable to reach a cross from Meijer and a shot from Vetlesen was blocked after a cross from Skov Olsen.
As time went on, the visitors fought their way more and more into the match. Shortly before the half hour mark, they came close to Mignolet for the first time and that actually resulted in the 0-1: Gustaf Nilsson trumped Mechele in the air and headed in an Amoura cross. Moments later Lapoussin curled the cross wide of the far post. The Bruges players again grabbed Union by the throat, resulting in a couple of good chances: a shot by Thiago was blocked by Burgess, the Brazilian rounded goalkeeper Moris but was too far out of range and was unable to get a shot off, and an inswinging shot by De Cuyper was tapped over the bar by Moris.
After the break, Club immediately went in search of the equalizer. After seven minutes, that yielded results. Vetlesen went for a walk in the box and was brought down by Burgess. Referee Vergoote resolutely pointed to the spot and was not corrected by VAR. Igor Thiago did not hesitate and popped the deserved equalizer past Moris.
The Bruggelings then took a step back, allowing Union to get back in the game. The quick-witted Amoura was able to slip through the offside trap, but his shot was blocked by Meijer. Moments later, Nilsson even headed home, but the ball had clearly crossed the goal line beforehand. At the other end, Thiago seemed to be able to push through, but the unyielding Burgess was just between them.
The closing stages remained unusually exciting. Mignolet had to save a shot from Puertas and a header from Machida. Deep into injury time, Vanaken seemed to put Jutglà on his way to 2-1, but the far-out Moris unbalanced the Spaniard outside the sixteen meters. Red for the goalkeeper, but away chance for Club. So it remained 1-1, keeping Blauw-Zwart's deficit on the Brusselers fourteen points.
Jupiler Pro League - Playday 20
Spectators: 29,000 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Jasper Vergoote
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Maxim De Cuyper, Jorne Spileers (76' Ferran Jutglà), Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer (68' Denis Odoi) - Hugo Vetlesen, Raphael Onyedika (86' Éder Balanta), Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen (86' Philip Zinckernagel), Igor Thiago, Antonio Nusa. Bench: Nordin Jackers, Nick Shinton, Michał Skóraś and Dedryck Boyata. Coach: Ronny Deila.
Union Saint-Gilles: Anthony Moris - Kevin MacAllister, Christian Burgess, Koki Machida - Alessio Castro-Montes, Charles Vanhoutte (81' Noah Sadiki), Cameron Puertas, Loïc Lapoussin - Gustaf Nilsson (90' Kevin Rodriguez), Mohamed Amoura (93' Dennis Eckert Ayensa). Coach: Alexander Blessin.
Yellow cards: Burgess, Vanhoutte, Lazare, Odoi, MacAllister, Spileers, Puertas, Thiago.
Red cards: 95' Moris.
Goals: 27' Nilsson (0-1), 56' Thiago (penalty, 1-1).
