Deinze thwarts Club's Cup dreams
Upset in the Belgian Cup Round of 32, as third division Deinze eliminates Club Brugge. Blauw-Zwart never reached its regular form, kept at bay by an enthusiastic home side. Tarfi and De Greef took care of the two goals sealing Club's Cup fate.
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The busy schedule urged coach Ivan Leko to bench some regulars in the away trip to the team of the Belgian third division. Brandon Mechele, Mats Rits and Siebe Schrijvers were the sole three in the Starting XI surviving. Making his season debut, Ethan Horvath manned goal, while Decarli and Peres joined Mechele in the back. In midfield, Rits and Schrijvers met with Cools, Amrabat and Dennis, while Vossen and Openda were the two up front.
The many changes were detrimental to Club's play; still, Club managed to create some slight chances: Schrijvers' free kick whizzed over, while Vossen, eye-to-eye with home goalie Vandenberghe, while Rits was unable to frame two attempts. Deinze was in fine form and had no trouble hacking Club's pace. The hosts threatened once through Mertens, aiming his bicycle kick over and wide.
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Not helped by slow-paced and flimsy play, Blauw-Zwart never managed to rattle the hosts' cage. Thirty minutes into the game, Schrijvers pushed through, but his effort was saved by Vandenberghe. To make matters worse, Deinze opened the score with a thrilling goal: Mehdi Tarfi was sent deep after ball loss in midfield, hammering in the 1-0 in the top right hand corner. Club, in dire straits by now, tried to react, but was kept at bay by a fiery home side. No more threats followed, with the exception of Vossen's two missed shots. To boot, Club escaped when Brulmans' free kick missed target by a margin.
With Danjuma on for Luan Peres, Club started rushing forward, and the Dutchman had a fine shot in store, only to see it saved again by Vandenberghe. Deinze didn't falter, however, and had a great chance through Tarfi, who put the ball just wide on the break. Moments later, Rits came inches late of making the most of Dennis' cross.
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Blauw-Zwart was unable to take matters in hand, and Leko reacted: Vanaken and later Wesley came on for Amrabat and Schrijvers. Club tried piling on the pressure, but saw chances for Vossen (coming too late), Decarli (heading wide) and Dennis (shot blocked) go missing. Instead of 1-1, it soon became 2-0: Arnaud De Greef's second post header defeated Horvath, making the Deinze grounds shake with joy.
With so little time on the clock, Club now had to go all out. The hosts started charging forward, but were unable to create any clear-cut chances. Vandenberghe saved a header by the far post, Danjuma fired over, Mechele's header also went over, and Openda's last minute effort went wide. Too little for Club, and with 2-0 at Deinze, Club Brugge sees its Cup dreams shattered in the very first round.
Croky Cup – Round of 32
Audience: 4,700 – Van De Wiele Stadion
Ref: Mr. Erik Lambrechts
KMSK Deinze: Tom Vandenberghe, Bart Goossens, Viktor Boone, Arnaud De Greef, Gauthier Libbrecht, Flavien Le Postollec, Youssef Challouk (69’ Niels De Schutter), Gert Van Walle (89’ Lennert De Smul), Seppe Brulmans, Mehdi Tarfi (79’ Michael Lallemand), Lennart Mertens. Coach: Regi Van Acker
Club Brugge: Ethan Horvath – Saulo Decarli, Brandon Mechele, Luan Peres (46’ Arnaut Danjuma) – Dion Cools, Mats Rits, Sofyan Amrabat (59’ Hans Vanaken), Siebe Schrijvers (67’ Wesley Moraes), Emmanuel Dennis – Jelle Vossen, Loïs Openda. Bench: Guillaume Hubert, Matej Mitrović, Marvelous Nakamba and Thibault Vlietinck. Coach: Ivan Leko.
Yellow: Peres, Decarli, Dennis, Vanaken.
Red: none
Goals: 33’ Tarfi (1-0), 70’ De Greef (2-0).
Text by: Steven Floin (sv)
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