Philippe Clement: "Happy with maturity and positive aggressiveness"

Genk's defeat allowed Blauw-Zwart to make an excellent case and it did. Blauw-Zwart was soon in a seat thanks to an early goal by Diatta and a red card by Gélin. Philippe Clement, however, did not think Club had just given it away.

"You always try to force the opponent into mistakes," said the Bruges coach. "Antwerp always does that too: high pressing, playing 1 on 1. We also did that and that's why those mistakes happened. I obviously have a lot of respect for Ivan's work over the past years and months. You always try to make it difficult for the opponent and they try to do the same with us. By and large we know each other, because we both want to play attacking, with a lot of pressing and good soccer."

The red card seemed to put the match in a decisive fold after only 15 minutes. "I didn't think that was so unfortunate. The people at Lazio didn't find that unfortunate on Tuesday that we picked up red either. Those are just things that come with it and that you have to adapt to as a coach. The only thing that could be better was to play it out better. We forced enough chances, but maybe we should have scored three or four times. But above all, I am super happy with this victory. I am also very proud of my players, especially in terms of maturity and positive aggressiveness."

Due to the absence of Ruud Vormer, Mats Rits took the place of the Bruges captain and he thanked his coach for the confidence with a goal. "Mats has already been very important on the six, but once in a while we have to rotate with the guys because it's a very busy season. If you can bring in fresh guys at the right times, that's ideal. Today we wanted to play with Ruud and Mats and rest Balanta, because he was at his gums. That wasn't possible because of Ruud's absence, but then in the second half we changed Balanta anyway and Kossounou still played in midfield. I am also very pleased with Noa, but also with Charles who played another fat match as a deep striker. Rits and Diatta also did very well, but it's hard not to mention a name, because then I would be selling someone short. The most important thing is that they continued to do it as a team and didn't try to be in the spotlight themselves."

Next Thursday already follows the next match on the field of KV Mechelen. Even then, it will be another wait and see who gets ready to play. "Because of Covid-19, danger lurks around every corner. Tomorrow we will be tested again and again we have to wait and see. We have to undergo it. You can't do anything but wear a mouth mask, disinfect hands and be careful. But it is difficult, of course, because soccer remains a contact sport. It's obviously not fun, but for people who can't work and have no income as a result, it's even less fun." (SF)