Club wins topper against Genk 3-1

Club Brugge won the topper against KRC Genk 3-1. Blauw-Zwart took an early lead through Vanaken, but Ito equalized before halftime. After the break, De Ketelaere and Adamyan took care of the decision. Thanks to this win, Club is now within five points of Union.

Alfred Schreuder chose the same team that beat KV Oostende last week. The Limburgers started with a five-man defense and seemed intent on building a solid wall, but were allowed to jettison that tactic after just a few minutes. Blauw-Zwart got off to a fierce start and were able to capitalize on their first chance. Mats Rits lashed in from outside the penalty area and his shot was deflected past Vandevoordt into the goal by Hans Vanaken.

Genk now had to get out of its hedgehog position, and so the flank defenders moved higher. It tried to respond immediately, but Club did not allow itself to be out of bounds. A wild shot by Arteaga went high over and Thorstvedt could not frame his distance shot either. In between, the visitors were also unable to take advantage of Mechele's ball loss.

Blauw-Zwart did not get into trouble, but could not create any chances themselves either. Genk kept trying and scored the equalizer five minutes before halftime. Junya Ito lashed in from the edge of the sixteen meters and shot the 1-1 goal. With that goal, Club suddenly shot back up. Adamyan cut inside but shot straight at Vandevoordt. Immediately afterwards, a hard shot by Buchanan also whizzed over goal.

Even after halftime, the Bruges players immediately went in search of a second goal. For example, Skov Olsen brought a deep ball from Vanaken in one time for goal, but Adamyan - albeit from offside - just couldn't reach it. A few minutes later, it did hit the mark. Mata made it to the back line and painted the leather onto the head of Charles De Ketelaere, who headed the 2-1 across.

The visitors tried to respond, but shortly past the hour had to continue with ten. Sadick mowed down the broken Rits and was sent off with a red card. Nevertheless, Genk continued to press. After a counter they stormed towards Mignolet with 4-2, but Mata threw himself body and soul for a shot by Paintsil. Moments later, Mignolet easily took a header from Lucumi, while a hard shot from Ito skimmed the crossbar.

It remained exciting, but fifteen minutes before time Sargis Adamyan was able to put the game in a final fold. His first shot was blocked by Lucumi, but his second attempt rolled inside the post and into the goal. Match decided and in the closing minutes Rits, Lang and Buchanan missed the 4-1. Thanks to this victory and the draw of leader Union, Blauw-Zwart approaches to within five points of the Brusselers.

Jupiler Pro League - Playday 32
Spectators: 28,000 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Nicolas Laforge
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Clinton Mata, Brandon Mechele, Stanley Nsoki - Andreas Skov Olsen, Mats Rits, Denis Odoi, Hans Vanaken, Tajon Buchanan - Sargis Adamyan (75' Noa Lang), Charles De Ketelaere (86' Bas Dost). Bank: Senne Lammens, Eduard Sobol, Éder Balanta, Jack Hendry, Ruud Vormer, Antonio Nusa and Cisse Sandra. Coach: Alfred Schreuder.
KRC Genk: Maarten Vandevoordt - Angelo Preciado, Mujaid Sadick, Carlos Cuesta, Jhon Lucumi, Gerardo Arteaga - Bryan Heynen, Aziz Ouattara (78' Luca Oyen), Kristian Thorstvedt - Junya Ito, Joseph Paintsil (83' Theo Bongonda). Coach: Bernd Storck.
Yellow cards: Preciado, Arteaga, Nsoki, Ito, Paintsil.
Red cards: 64' Sadick.
Goals: 4' Vanaken (1-0), 39' Ito (1-1), 49' De Ketelaere (2-1), 74' Adamyan (3-1).

Text: Steven Floin