After the game against Union, we collected reactions from Ferran Jutglà & Casper Nielsen.
Ferran Jutglà: "Worked hard the past period."
With a goal and an assist, Ferran Jutglà had a big part in this 2-1 victory in the semi-finals of the Cup of Belgium. Club played a mature match and have everything in their own hands to finish it off in the return match.
"It's been a long time since I got to start in the starting line-up. I worked hard over the past period and patiently waited for my chance. I am happy that my work paid off for the team to win. This assist and goal gives me confidence in my abilities. I have to keep working like this to get a prize with the team this season. My finishing wasn't good the past few weeks and this made me feel bad. You want to score as a striker. But the team did win and that made me happy again. It's continued training to get these nights. We now have the advantage to advance to the final, but the goal at the end was a bummer. We have to correct this because this could make the difference in the return game."
Jutglà was only a substitute for a long time. "Because of the competition with Thiago, I have to be satisfied with a substitute role. That too is part of soccer. But we can definitely play together and combine our qualities. From the bench, I help the team in a different way and when I get to fill in, I give 100% for the team. I played on the flank today, but I was also allowed to look for space centrally and get close to Thiago. I feel comfortable around him. He snaps up a lot of work and I can play in space."
The Spanish striker now appears to be back to full fitness. "Last season I played a lot of games and it was my first full season at a high level. I wasn't used to that. This caused small ailments, but they are off the table now." (KN)
Casper Nielsen: "We won after a solid performance"
Casper Nielsen along with Balanta kept Union's midfield well under control. Club deservedly won the outward game in this semi-final of the Cup of Belgium and now gets to defend its lead in Brussels.
"I'm a bit disappointed. We had full control of the match. The 3-0 was more in the air than the 2-1. The way it is now, we won after a solid performance. So we can look forward with confidence to the return game in Brussels to finish it off. We are doing everything we can to avoid late goals. Last week at Antwerp we were punished in the same way. Suddenly they scored out of nowhere. We realize it and we try to keep it simple to avoid this further." (KN)