Club Brugge won the clash against AA Gent 2-1. A commanding Club took the lead after twenty minutes thanks to Romeo Vermant, but Gent equalized shortly after the break, only to see Nicolò Tresoldi hand Club the victory in the closing stages.
Ivan Leko was forced to make two changes to his starting lineup against his former team. Onyedika left for the Africa Cup and was replaced by Hugo Vetlesen. In addition, Christos Tzolis had to drop out due to illness. His place at left forward was taken by Mamadou Diakhon. In addition, Kyriani Sabbe was preferred over Hugo Siquet at right back. Joaquin Seys had been out injured against Dender last week, but still managed to get fit in time.
The hosts started the game most eagerly, but the first opportunities were not well played: Diakhon was launched but choked on his control and when Sabbe was given some space for a moment, he played it in too hard to Vermant. After just over ten minutes Club got a free kick in an interesting spot, but Vanaken's effort flew straight at the Gent wall. Moments later, Sabbe's cross whirled just wide. The first real chance followed after twenty minutes and immediately resulted in a goal: Diakhon swerving past Samoise on the left and his low cross was subtly tapped in by Romeo Vermant.
Things went fast now, and a few minutes later Jan Breydel came close to that 2-0. Forbs dived into the back of the Ghent defense, but tapped the ball a little too far in front, allowing Roef to make another save. The visitors initially limited themselves to defending, but had to crawl out of their defending position due to this deficit. A shot by Ito went wide and a shot by Dean - albeit after prior offside by Goore - was pushed over goal by Van den Heuvel. The last danger in the first half came from Club: Vermant just couldn't reach a Vetlesen slider and a Stanković cross was cleared just in the nick of time.
At the start of the second half, Diakhon cut inside well, but the young Frenchman just couldn't fire away. On the other side of the pitch, Dean immediately tested Van den Heuvel, but Club's goalie pawed it away. The hosts went in search of that 2-0, but it was Gent that scored out of nothing as a corner kick was headed in by Maksim Paskotši . A big letdown for Club, which was dominating on many levels.
After the equalizer, Club set up camp on the AA Gent half. After a fine attack, an excellent chance followed, but after a cross from Seys, a deviation by Vanaken via a defender went just wide. A low cross from Sabbe was also just cleared. Moments later, Vergoote allowed the ball to go through after Diakhon was brought down in the penalty area, and shortly afterwards that same Diakhon put the ball over the crossbar.
Twenty minutes before time, Leko threw in two fresh attackers with Furo and Tresoldi. Club kept pushing: an effort by Vanaken went just wide and Roef saved a header by Furo. Five minutes before full time it finally paid off: Meijer with the perfect cross to find Tresoldi to slice it past Roef. In injury time Roef was able to stop Forbs and a shot by Vetlesen went just wide. So it remained at 2-1 with a satisfying win for Club.
Jupiler Pro League - Match day 19
Audience: 28,000 - Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Mr. Jasper Vergoote
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Kyriani Sabbe (78' Hugo Siquet), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele (38' Jorne Spileers), Joaquin Seys (78' Bjorn Meijer) - Aleksandar Stanković, Hugo Vetlesen, Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs, Romeo Vermant (69' Nicolò Tresoldi), Mamadou Diakhon (69' Kaye Furo). Bench: Axl De Corte, Cisse Sandra, Gustaf Nilsson and Vince Osuji. Coach: Ivan Leko.
KAA Gent: Davy Roef - Matties Volckaert, Maksim Paskotsi, Siebe Van der Heyden - Matisse Samoise (72' Jean-Kévin Duverne), Tibe De Vlieger, Atsuki Ito, Omri Gandelman, Araujo Tiago (78' Franck Surdez) - Max Dean (63' Lopes Da Silva), Hyllarion Goore (78' Dante Vanzeir). Coach: Rik De Mil.
Yellow cards: Tiago, Surdez.
Red cards: none
Goals: 21' Vermant (1-0), 52' Paskotši (1-1), 86' Tresoldi (2-1).