Hugo Vetlesen: "We have to turn the knob towards Tuesday"
Club went down in the closing minutes at home. In the first half, Ordóñez received a red card and that was a turning point in the match.
"We played well and had control, but then that red card fell and that had a big impact," said Hugo Vetlesen. The midfielder managed to score after a corner. "We're working on it with the set piece coach and it's nice that it's paying off, but we're not winning so we're not making much progress."
Not too long before the tying goal, Tzolis was able to head alone at the goalkeeper, but he couldn't finish. "If we could make it 3-0 there, the game was played, but we didn't seize our moment. Afterwards, we couldn't get the ball away and that broke us down sourly. Now we have to turn the knob towards Tuesday," he looked ahead to the match against Kairat Almaty in the Champions League.
Hans Vanaken: "Until the red card, we were in control of the match."
After the match, captain Vanaken looked back on a difficult evening. "It's frustrating: you're 2-0 ahead and then that red card drops. I haven't seen the phase so no idea if he was the last man. Until that phase we had total control of the match and nothing was going on," Vanaken said. "The red card changed everything. We tried to play more in block and counter from there. That almost succeeded with Tzolis' chance, but we didn't seize that moment."La Louvière was able to score the tying goal shortly after. "The ball fell well for them and then you know it's going to be pumping and working to survive, but unfortunately that didn't work out."
Ivan Leko: "Looking in the mirror and fighting back"
Coach Ivan Leko sought no excuses afterwards. "This is a very painful defeat. It was a game with two faces: before that red card we had everything under control, but after that it collapsed. This is hard to accept, because at a 2-0 lead on our own pitch, with our qualities and with the fans behind us, you should be able to hold on to this, even if you fall with a man less. This is one of my biggest disappointments here at Club Brugge. I did not see this coming.After the defeat against Charleroi, I saw a good reaction at training and I am very surprised what happened after that red card. We forgot to play soccer and therefore got ourselves into trouble. This is hard to accept, but we have to look in the mirror and fight back. Head up and find extra energy to turn this around."The red card seemed like a very harsh decision, but Leko refused to make excuses. "I don't want to comment on whether it was justified, but even with a man down you should be able to hold that 2-0. It was unfortunately one of those games where everything was against us. First all the minor injuries to Spileers and Forbs and then also van den Heuvel. And just then with the red card of Ordóñez and the injury of Tzolis, players fall out on positions where you are just thin at that moment. Anyway, that shouldn't be an excuse. We will now first have to accept criticism because this was bad. And then help each other to fight back."