After the 2-0 win against AA Gent, we gathered reactions from Bjorn Meijer, Hans Vanaken, Maxim De Cuyper and coach Ronny Deila.
Bjorn Meijer: "This is a wonderful victory."
Bjorn Meijer saw Club Gent lock up well and decide the game already in the first half.
"This is a delicious victory and good for the chase," said the Dutch defender. "It's a fine result and without a goal against. When we were still against eleven, we were even the better. We won deservedly. We kept Gent under good pressure and they didn't have many chances. We had seen footage of Gent daring to slump against top teams. But against us, we expected high pressure. When they play with two strikers and two high wingbacks, you get a lot of personal duels and we generally won those. Even after that red card. It's hard to understand, but it's not always easy to play against ten men. There's a certain pressure, it's different. There is sometimes a free man, because you are used to playing eleven against eleven. But the most important thing is that we didn't get a goal against, otherwise it became exciting. The second half was not as good as the first, but still well done."
Thanks to two goals by Thiago, Club remains in the top six. "Yes, those penalty kicks went in well, although I got stressed for half a second with that first one. I thought: oy, it's going really high. But it was well in. Even if the goalkeeper went the right way, he had no chance. It is currently fairly close together in the standings. No club from the top wants to leave points, so this is an ideal way for us to get closer."
VAR claimed a starring role again today. "For me it all goes fast and I haven't seen the footage of it yet. I haven't seen the footage so I'm not going to make any statements about it. Normally VAR intervenes to correct the mistake. I trust that, apart from Mechelen." (KN)
Hans Vanaken: "Keep the focus for two more games"
Club won 2-0 against AA Gent and the Club supporters were clearly very happy with that. Captain Hans Vanaken was also convinced that the win was well deserved.
"I think we played a good first half," said the Bruges number 20. "In the second half we kind of failed to run out further and play better soccer. Especially since we were up against ten Ghent players. We didn't do enough there, but all in all I'm quite satisfied with our first half. We caught their strikers very well and gave little or nothing away. We ourselves found the spaces to play through and create danger and because of that we also got two penalties, which I think were very clean. With that red card on the second penalty kick, it still made it a little easier for us to play soccer."
"Gent also claimed a penalty kick at the beginning of the match, but I think prior to that there was a foul on Casper Nielsen who had received a serious tap and even had to be substituted a few minutes later, so the pulling foul on Cuypers was not whistled. I can't say more about that because I haven't seen any footage yet. We're on a good run now anyway, even though we can still improve on the soccer, but in the end it's the results that count. We have to keep the focus for two more games before the winter break, so we can go into the winter break with a good feeling." (FDC)
Maxim De Cuyper: "A huge discharge."
With two goals from Igor Thiago, Club Brugge won the 'Battle of Flanders' 2-0, and Maxim De Cuyper was particularly satisfied with that : "After taking the group win in the Conference League last Thursday, we now grab a very important win against Ghent. The emotion is particularly great, especially after what happened to us last weekend in Mechelen. There we played a good game but only had to return home with one point."
That De Cuyper is currently played out as right back does not bother the Bruges youth product : "I do what the coach tells me to do and I can only do my very best. It is indeed a different position and with Fofana I had a difficult opponent. But honestly : in this league there are quite a few flank players. That in minute 73 I had to make a serious effort to assist Mignolet? That in itself should not be an item because in the end even with a numerical majority you still have to make the necessary efforts. Fortunately, it paid off." (MV)
Ronny Deila: "Fantastic atmosphere"
Ronny Deila saw his team play a mature match. Thanks to the 2-0 victory, Club is also doing well in the standings.
"It was an exciting first half, with two teams that went full steam ahead. With a fantastic atmosphere on top of that. However, the pitch was not in good shape, which made playing soccer difficult. Despite this, we created several chances and also forced two penalty kicks, both of which were finished well by Igor Thiago. I'm glad he continues to find his way to goal smoothly. After halftime, we maintained focus and controlled the game. Obviously we would have liked to score more, but we were sometimes a little too sloppy in our attacking play. In any case, this is a good victory. Now it comes down to recuperating and focusing on the last two games, because they are also very important." (SF)
Review the press conference here: