Club stranded against Lazio on sigh of miracle

Club Brugge fell just short of a miracle in the Champions League. Ruud Vormer wiped out Correa's opening goal, but Club then swallowed a penalty from Immobile and a red card from Sobol. Despite the man down, Vanaken was still able to equalize and De Ketelaere's winning goal splattered on the crossbar. It remained 2-2, so Blauw-Zwart just missed the 1/8th final. After the winter break, Club will play in the Europa League.

The team that beat STVV on Saturday underwent four changes. Clinton Mata resumed his starting place at the back and was joined there by Federico Ricca. Van der Brempt and Mechele consequently disappeared from the starting lineup. Ruud Vormer had recovered from his abdominal problems and Krépin Diatta also returned from injury. As a result, Rits and Dennis had to relinquish their starting places.

Lazio had enough of a point and so started in a seat. The Italians let Club come and lurk on the counter attack. Mignolet first saved a Milinkovic-Savic header, but had to give up after twelve minutes. The goalkeeper first parried a shot by Luis Alberto, but Joaquín Correa was able to kick in the rebound from close range. Blauw-Zwart responded immediately: a hard shot by Lang on Reina bumped into the feet of Ruud Vormer, who pushed in the equalizer.

That goal gave the Brugge players wings: a clever shot by De Ketelaere whizzed just wide and Vormer couldn't frame his effort either. Just when the 1-2 was in the air, the Italians struck mercilessly. Mata got trapped by Immobile, who also eagerly went down. Penalty for the home side and it was converted by Immobile himself. Club tried to respond again, but a cross from Diatta was headed away by Hoedt just in front of De Ketelaere. To make matters worse, Eduard Sobol swallowed his second yellow card shortly before halftime.

Blue-Black thus had to continue with ten for more than a half. Just before halftime, Simon Deli had replaced Noa Lang to provide more defensive stability. The Romans allowed Club to come to the fore and lurked on the counter: a shot by Correa went just wide, a free kick by Milinkovic-Savic whizzed over goal and Mignolet blocked a shot by Marusic towards the short corner.

The Bruges players got off with a scare and were able to threaten for the first time on the hour: Hans Vanaken dribbled into the sixteen meters and saw his shot hit the side netting via a defender. At the other end, Mignolet had no problems with shots from Correa and Milinkovic-Savic, while Immobile tucked a free shot opportunity over the bar. Club did not give in and could even equalize a quarter of an hour before time: Vormer painted a cross onto the head of Hans Vanaken, who headed in the 2-2.

The closing stages were therefore unusually exciting. The Italians were playing with a daze, while Blauw-Zwart went in search of the winning goal. A free kick by Vormer first hit the wall, but the chance fell in the final seconds. An effort by Vormer fell at the feet of De Ketelaere and his great shot hit the underside of the crossbar. Club Brugge were just a sigh away from qualifying for the 1/8th finals.

Champions League: Group F - Playday 6
Spectators: none - Stadio Olimpico
Referee: Cüneyt Çakir (Tur)
Lazio Roma: Pepe Reina - Luiz Felipe, Wesley Hoedt (46' Stefan Radu), Francesco Acerbi - Manuel Lazzari, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva (75' Gonzalo Escalante), Luis Alberto (75' Akpa Akpro), Adam Marusic - Ciro Immobile (75' Felipe Caicedo), Joaquín Correa (86' Andreas Pereira). Coach: Simone Inzaghi.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Clinton Mata (84' Ignace Van der Brempt), Odilon Kossounou, Federico Ricca - Krépin Diatta (84' David Okereke), Ruud Vormer, Éder Balanta (78' Mats Rits), Hans Vanaken, Eduard Sobol - Charles De Ketelaere, Noa Lang (42' Simon Deli). Bench: Ethan Horvath, Siebe Schrijvers, Youssouph Badji, Emmanuel Dennis and Brandon Mechele. Coach: Philippe Clement.
Yellow cards: Sobol, Hoedt, Marusic.
Red cards: 39' Sobol (2x yellow).
Goals: 12' Correa (1-0), 15' Vormer (1-1), 27' Immobile (penalty, 2-1), 76' Vanaken (2-2).

Text: Steven Floin