Club Brugge's next opponent on its way to the Conference League was Icelandic KA Akureyri. The first half saw Club take a thumping 4-0 lead, followed up with a goal by Roman Yaremchuk after the break. With Akureyri also putting one past Mignolet, the game ended in a 5-1 win for Club.
Coach Ronny Deila paid his respect to the opponents from the high north, chosing for his strongest Starting XI, in which he again opted for Maxim De Cuyper, back from suspension, at left back at the expense of Kyriani Sabbe. Newcomer Hugo Vetlesen was also preferred over Mats Rits in midfield. Club wanted to continue along the positive line it set out during the weekend with a win at Westerlo, against a KA Akureyri side that has had a rough start to the new Icelandic season, currently in eighth place after a weekend defeat at the hands of Valur (4-2).
As was to be expected, Club started eagerly, with an industrious Hugo Vetlesen creating opportunities through fine runs and flashy dribbles. The first real chance came soon through Tajon Buchanan, testing goalkeeper Jajalo from afar. Club kept coming, and after ten minutes of play, Jorne Spileers teamed up with Vanaken in the centre, only to neatly place it in th bottom right hand corner to give Club an early lead.
The goal did not spur Club to go full steam ahead, the home side chosing not to concede over scoring more goals. Still, with Vanaken and Skov Olen still taking the team by the hand, a few more chances could be noted. Setting up a block in front of their own goal mound, Akureyri tried a different tack, happilly leaving ball possession to Club most of the time.
To say that Mignolet had nothing to do was not true either. Steingrimsson had some luck as he pushed through to get the ball to Sigurgeirsson, but Mignolet proved the better of his low shot from close range. The chance rattled Club enough to start surging forward again, and it took an attentive Jajalo to keep the hosts from doubling their lead. First by neutralizing a dangerous cross by Skov Olsen, and a second time eye-to-eye with Igor Thiago, who was unable to put much force on his effort, allowing the goalkeeper to save the day.
Still, the visitors ran out of luck with five minutes on the clock. A great corner kick by Nusa found Vanaken all alone in front of goal, heading Club's second in with grace, and just one minute later it was 3-0: a great through-ball by Vetlesen put Andreas Skov Olsen through on goal, slotting in Club's third over the visitin goalie. And it was not over and done just yet in that frantic end of the first half: Maxim De Cuyper pushed through inside the box, but was brought down by defender Rodri. Penalty kick, eagerly hammered in by Igor Thiago. 4-0 at half time, not a bad first leg result so far for the Bruges hosts.
Coach Deila made three personnel changes at half time, taking off Thiago, Skov Olsen and Mechele for Yaremchuk, Nielsen and Ordóñez. With Spileers and Ordóñez, the young central duo now manned the pitch that had one so well at Club NXT last season. The fine first half performance inspired Club further, and five minutes into the second half another great combination helped Club break through the defense, allowing Yaremchuk to head for goal upon a great cross, but the great attempt was denied by Jajalo getting a touch to the ball and deflecting it against the post.
The goal seemed bound to fall on Club's side, but it was the visitors that made it 4-1 after a scarce attack. Arnason, just on, found Harley Willard in front of Mignolet, slotting it in neatly. Shortly after, Deila brought in newest signing Zinckernagel, who immediately tried to make a mark for his new team. Another Scandinavian in fine spirits was Nusa, with lots of possession, and trying to create chances from the word go. In the 75th minute, another great action put him past two defenders, but his curling shot sailed over.
The home side upped the pace once again in the final quarter, which resulted in another beauty: Nusa put De Cuyper through on the left wing, the latter producing a fabulous cross to meet Yaremchuk in the centre, gracefully firing in Club's 5th with a superb volley. The first goal of the season for the Ukrainian, to the delight of the many Club fans.
By the end of the game, Club kept pushing forward to get an even better first leg result, but chances for Nusa and Nielsen went missing. A dominant first leg ended in a clear 5-1 win for Club. A great score to take to Iceland next week.
