Hans Vanaken: "Ultimately relieved with this won point for us."
After a scoreless first half, Blauw-Zwart fell behind shortly after halftime. "Just after the break they scored from one of the only times they had come into our sixteen yards. After that we kept going, kept trying. There was that ball on the post from Brandon Mechele, but even after that we kept going full steam ahead".
After the severe red card for Onyedika, Blauw-Zwart gradually resurfaced. "I still have to watch the footage, but on the pitch it seemed like a very strict decision and yellow certainly seemed sufficient. With a man less you start thinking less. That made for our good final minutes. You still want to try to get that point and go full out, full for every ball." Vanaken continued about Club Brugge's strong finish in the Black Country.
The man less situation created space for Charleroi, but they pounced on a strong Mignolet. He kept the 1-0 on the board a couple of times. "He is rightly the man of the match by, among other things, a fantastic save. You start putting pressure and then there is more space for the opponent. It's good that then you can count on a rock-solid goalkeeper."
Entering extra time, Hans Vanaken managed to kick the well-deserved equalizer into the nets with a volley. The goal came with a bit of luck: the ball deflected off a Charleroi player's leg.
"In the end, though, it's a relief. After this match and how it went, this is a point won for us." he spoke visibly satisfied. "It's also allowed to be lucky for once. I don't know if the goalkeeper could have taken it differently, but that doesn't matter anymore".
Nicky Hayen: "Last half hour is an example of how it should be done."
Coach Hayen was satisfied with the point after the draw, but also critical of his team's performance. "I'm actually not really relieved," the Club coach began his account. "If we had brought the same intensity with eleven as we did the last half hour with ten, I think we would have been capable of more than the point we took now."
Club had to continue with ten after a red card for Onyedika. "First of all, I think it was a tough and severe verdict. I've just watched the phase back and he is indeed moving his feet forward. However, the first foot is on the ground and then the second comes in. There is absolutely no contact, so I think it's just a very strict decision."
Yet Blue-Black still managed to apply a lot of pressure. "We then just played soccer with guts and daring. Then you know you're also going to give away chances and then Simon Mignolet kept us straight with a fantastic save. I do think we showed the intention to keep playing constant forward soccer and look for that equalizer. It then falls and that's maybe the maximum achievable at that moment. But you have to be honest: as I just said, if you had brought the same intensity with eleven as you did with ten, you actually lose two points today. I'm not going to talk about names now, it's a general point, and I said that in the locker room. This is something we have to do from the beginning, and sometimes we succeed better than other times. We knew this was going to be a very difficult displacement. You do have control then, and also some chances in the first half. But in ball loss it has to be much sharper. The last thirty minutes showed how to do it, and for ninety minutes."
So Club still takes a point before the trip to Austria. "In the end, this could be an important point. I'm proud of those ten guys who still got it over the line or kept believing in it. That should give a boost or energy, both heading into Wednesday and for the rest of the league," coach Hayen concluded.