Club wins at Zulte Waregem 1-2

Club Brugge recorded a hard-fought 1-2 victory on the field of Zulte Waregem. Noa Lang gave Blauw-Zwart an early lead, but the home team came alongside again through Ndour. At the end of the first half, Hans Vanaken brought Club back into the lead. After the break, the Bruges fans held on and took a satisfying three points.

After the draw against Charleroi, Scott Parker made four changes to his starting eleven. Tajon Buchanan was suspended and was replaced at right back by Clinton Mata. He was joined at the back by Dedryck Boyata, who was preferred to Brandon Mechele. Up front, Andreas Skov Olsen and Ferran Jutglà replaced Antonio Nusa and Roman Yaremchuk. Zulte Waregem was missing Ruud Vormer who, after all, is not eligible to play against Club.

The first threat came from another former Blauw-Zwart player, but Golden Shoe Mignolet was on the ball before Jelle Vossen. On the other side, a shot by Lang was blocked. Moments later, the Bridge goalkeepers did experience a fluke. Jutglà slipped when kicking, but via a slight deviation from Vanaken the leather ended up with Noa Lang, who was able to tap in the 0-1 from close range. The VAR took minutes to review the footage, but finally approved the goal.

Jutglà had to be sidelined with an injury after 15 minutes. His replacement Yaremchuk served Lang moments later, but he was unable to reach the free-standing Nielsen and Skov Olsen. Instead of 0-2, however, it became 1-1. After a Ciranni cross, Mata could not clear the leather, allowing Ndour to kick in the equalizer from close range. Soon after, Vossen's header went wide, Mignolet made a fine save on a shot by Ndour, while a volley by the same Ndour went wide. Late in the injury time of the first half, Club pushed on, with success. A corner kick was headed back in front of goal by Meijer, where Vanaken kicked the ball into the roof of the goal.

After the break, the first danger came from Blauw-Zwart: after a cross from Lang, Vanaken deviated the leather over goal. Zulte Waregem refused to give up and continued to play with great intensity and healthy aggression. That resulted first in a shot by Rommens over the bar and then also in a scrimmage in front of goal that yielded nothing. At the other end, an attempt by Skov Olsen was just blocked.

The Brugge players struggled with an eager Essevee and got away well on the hour: the Club defense failed to clear a ball, but Vossen's shot splashed onto the post. Immediately afterwards, an effort by Ndour went straight at Mignolet. The Golden Shoe did not let a free kick from Brüls surprise him a moment later either. Zulte Waregem made more and more claims for the equalizer and so Scott Parker intervened: Sylla, Rits and Sowah replaced Boyata, Nielsen and Yaremchuk.

Blue-Black seemed to regain more of a grip on the game after that triple change. However, an attempt by Skov Olsen went wide immediately afterwards. The Dane launched Noa Lang shortly thereafter, but he was just stopped by Borja Lopez. Five minutes before time, the same duo claimed the lead. Lang could all go on and was mowed down by the Spanish defender. Referee Van Damme ruled it red, which meant that Zulte Waregem had to finish the final phase with one man less. The score remained unchanged and so Club Brugge took the three points. It thus jumps back over AA Gent to fourth place.

Jupiler Pro League - Matchday 23
Spectators: 10,000 - Elindus Arena
Referee: Kevin Van Damme
Zulte Waregem: Sammy Bossut - Borja Lopez, Timothy Derijck (66' Oleksandr Drambaev), Novatus Miroshi - Alessandro Ciranni, Abdoulaye Sisssako, Nicolas Rommens (75' Daniel Ramirez), Alieu Fadera - Alioune Ndour, Christian Brüls - Jelle Vossen (75' Chinonso Offor). Coach: Mbaye Leye.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Clinton Mata (60' Brandon Mechele), Dedryck Boyata (75' Abakar Sylla), Denis Odoi, Bjorn Meijer - Casper Nielsen (75' Mats Rits), Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen, Ferran Jutglà (17' Roman Yaremchuk, 75' Kamal Sowah), Noa Lang. Bench: Josef Bursik, Nick Shinton, Jack Hendry and Antonio Nusa. Coach: Scott Parker.
Yellow cards: Boyata, Vanaken, Lopez, Sowah, Fadera.
Red cards: 85' Lopez.
Goals: 7' Lang (0-1), 32' Ndour (1-1), 45+6' Vanaken (1-2).