Cup adventure over after 1-4 defeat against STVV

Club Brugge restarted with a false note after the World Cup break. Blauw-Zwart suffered a heavy 1-4 defeat against STVV on their own field, ending Bruges' cup adventure as early as the 1/8th finals.

It had been 38 days since Club Brugge's last official action. Compared to the topper against Antwerp in mid-November, Carl Hoefkens made two changes. Clinton Mata had recovered from his injury and resumed his starting place at the back at the expense of Denis Odoi. Tajon Buchanan also joined the team, replacing Skov Olsen. Blue-Black played in a 4-3-3, with Buchanan and Lang playing in support of deep striker Jutglà. The Bridge players claimed the ball from the opening minute, while the Canaries immediately put up a double wall.

The first concrete danger followed after ten minutes. After a short-taken corner kick, Jutglà lashed out from distance, but goalkeeper Schmidt saved. A few minutes later the same scenario: Meijer tried from an angled shot, the Japanese went well flat. Club imposed its will more and more emphatically, which also resulted in a lead after a good quarter of an hour. After an attack by the visitors, Jutglà headed the leather through to Noa Lang, who started a long rush from his own half. The Dutchman came face to face with Schmidt and slotted the 1-0 into the goal.

The Limburgers did not seem able to react immediately, but got help from Simon Mignolet. The goalkeeper kicked the ball unfortunately against Christian Brüls, causing it to bump into the goal. So after half an hour the score was suddenly 1-1 and Blauw-Zwart had to go flat out again. After a corner kick, Sylla seemed to have a chance, but the phase was called off for offside. The best chance was for Meijer, whose hard shot flew over goal via a defender. Shortly before halftime, Jutglà deviated a Buchanan cross spectacularly over goal.

Noa Lang went to the locker room while drafting and did not return after the break. Andreas Skov Olsen was his replacement. Club went on the attack in full force, but STVV put up a strong organization. The first chance in the second half was for Casper Nielsen. However, his volley stranded straight at Schmidt. On the hour, a cross from Skov Olsen seemed to create some danger, but it was only just cleared.

Instead of Club, however, it was the visitors who were able to score. Vanaken slipped in the middle lane, allowing STVV to quickly counter. Gianni Bruno lashed in from long range and saw his shot disappear through Mechele's back into goal. A tough act for Blauw-Zwart who scored a third goal twenty minutes before time: after a cross from the right by Hashioka, Hayashi pushed the 1-3 into the goal from close range. The Bruges players pushed forward with all their might, but a header by Meijer went over the goal. At the other end, a long-distance shot by Brüls whizzed a meter over goal.

After a deep ball from Vanaken, Larin kicked in the ball five minutes before time, but the goal was disallowed for offside. No goal to tie it up for Club, which had to empty the chalice in the final minutes: Bruno shot 1-4 across the corner to make the final decision. In the final seconds, Larin's header was saved on the line and the score remained 1-4. A painful defeat for Club Brugge, who can put away their cup ambitions.

Cup of Belgium - 1/8th finals
Spectators: 12,200 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Lothar D'Hondt
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Clinton Mata, Brandon Mechele, Abakar Sylla, Bjorn Meijer - Casper Nielsen (75' Cyle Larin), Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken - Tajon Buchanan, Ferran Jutglà, Noa Lang (46' Andreas Skov Olsen). Bank: Axl De Corte, Senne Lammens, Denis Odoi, Kamal Sowah, Antonio Nusa, Jorne Spileers and Lynnt Audoor. Coach: Carl Hoefkens.
STVV: Daniel Schmidt - Wolke Janssens, Toni Leistner, Ameen Al-Dakhil - Daiki Hashioka, Mory Konaté (8' Daichi Hayashi), Frank Boya, Christian Brüls Eric Bocat - Gianni Bruno, Shinji Okazaki. Coach: Bernd Hollerbach.
Yellow cards: Onyedika, Hashioka.
Red cards: none
Goals: 17' Lang (1-0), 33' Brüls (1-1), 62' Bruno (1-2), 69' Hayashi (1-3), 88' Bruno (1-4).