Hugo Vetlesen: "We needed fire and energy"
Hugo Vetlesen replaced Diakhon at halftime and had a tremendous amount of energy.
"We needed fire and energy, and we showed it. On my second action, the goal fell immediately, and that gave us a huge boost. We are thus taking another step closer to our goal, and that feels great for the team."
What stood out immensely was the grinta and commitment the Norwegian brought to the game. "Sometimes we are still a little too friendly, especially in the first half. There could be a little more grit and sharpness in there. Today we brought that better in the second half, and that is also an important reason why we win this game."
The number 10 was awarded the trophy of man of the match. He is not a regular on the team. "As for my situation, I have been working very hard for a whole period and I feel that I am in good shape now. So I hope I can continue that line and get the chance to play the next big match against Union again."
Nordin Jackers: "This one does a lot of good."
Goalkeeper Nordin Jackers returned to the starting lineup after Mignolet's injury. The Limburg goalie impressed immediately. "It does an enormous amount of virtue. The first half was difficult, but at halftime we put our heads together and started again with a fresh mindset."
Both for the team and individually, this win is hugely important. "As a player you always have to be able to react after a down period, and we did that well today. Sint-Truiden is a strong team, but we were able to hold them off well and played efficiently ourselves to draw the game to us."
Jackers picked up with a couple of clever saves. He himself remains level-headed about this: "Personally, I try to take every chance I get. In soccer, you know such moments come, and then you just have to stand there."
Ivan Leko: "This is really a Big Win"
Blauw-Zwart had a difficult first half at Stayen, but scratched straight in the second half and eventually won 1-2. Coach Leko was therefore especially pleased afterwards with his team's reaction.
"This is really a Big Win," the Club coach began his account. "It's not easy to win against STVV, and certainly not after how the match started. The first quarter of an hour I thought we were well dominant, including a great chance for Tresoldi. Then we allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep a bit and didn't follow the game plan anymore. They scored 1-0 and shortly afterwards two of our key players (Sabbe and Forbs) were injured. At that point everything was against us and we lost our grip on the game. We couldn't get the ball in the final third and at halftime something had to change. It wasn't planned to make that change (Diakhon for Vetlesen), but it was necessary to try everything to still win this match. In the second half we showed a lot of character, with good group pressing and more courage. If you are brave, you can also force luck. It may not have been the prettiest win, but I like this kind of victory."
"It wasn't our most attractive soccer today, but it was a game with a lot of character and commitment. Everyone gave everything and there was also a good connection with the supporters. They kept supporting the team, even at the end when we were still struggling to hold on to the lead. That is not always easy, because we are normally a team that wants to dominate and attack. Today defense was also very important, and in that we made strides."
Blue-Black could also have lost this match. "We could indeed have lost, but I think we had the better chances and were better overall. In the end, this is a deserved victory. Soccer is sometimes simple: you can win without being top and lose if you are top. Today it was more balanced, but with the best chances for us."
Vetlesen helped provide the turnaround against STVV. "He was brave, but also angry. I like having that. When you're angry, the pitch is the right place to show you deserve a starting place. Hugo has been here for several years and always shows a top mentality. Unfortunately, you can only start with eleven, but as he presented himself today, this was certainly a strong application for the next matches," concluded a satisfied Bruges coach.