Club Brugge suffered a 3-2 defeat at STVV's field. Blauw-Zwart took an early lead through Tzolis, but Muja and Ito turned the tables. Twenty minutes before time Kaye Furo scored the deserved equalizer, but a goal by Ferrari sent Club still going down.
Union's draw against AA Gent gave Club a chance to sneak closer to the leader. Nicky Hayen made no changes to the team that defeated OH Leuven in the Cup on Wednesday. Dani van den Heuvel was thus back in goal, while goal scorer Hugo Vetlesen also retained his starting place.
The Bruggelingen started the game strongly. After barely three minutes, Stanković put Tzolis alone on his way to goal, but goalkeeper Kokubo saved. Moments later, a drop shot by the same Tzolis whizzed over goal. STVV responded with a deviation by Goto that went wide, while Ito kicked the ball past Onyedika. Club was the better team though and took the lead after fifteen minutes: after a fine rush by Tzolis, Onyedika kicked the 0-1 past Kokubo.
The Canaries are having an excellent season and refused to give up. They regained the balance in the game and on the scoreboard: Van den Heuvel first saved Ito's shot, but the Club defense could not clear the ball, allowing Arbnor Muja to kick in the equalizer. To make matters worse, Blauw-Zwart swallowed a second goal after half an hour. Mechele unfortunately got the ball against his arm from close range. Referee Van Driessche initially let the game continue, but after reviewing the footage he pointed to the spot. Ryotaro Ito kicked the eleven-meter mark without fail. At the break, Van den Heuvel was able to prevent a third goal after a fine save on a shot by Ito.
After the break, Carlos Forbs joined the team at the expense of Aleksandar Stanković. Forbs took his usual place on the right wing, allowing Vetlesen to advance to midfield. The home team was able to create danger early on, but Seys defended very sharply, preventing Muja from printing. On the other side, Club came even closer to a goal: Forbs served Tzolis but the Greek missed his shot. Moments later, a shot by Forbs was just blocked.
Blauw-Zwart was clearly in control in the second half and came closer and closer to the equalizer. After a corner kick from Tzolis, Vanaken headed the ball towards the top corner, but Kokubo had an excellent reflex. The goalkeeper then also saved a hard shot by Mechele, while a shot by Tzolis went wide. Moments before, Cisse Sandra and Kaye Furo had stepped in and it was the latter who provided the equalizer. Tzolis launched Furo and he cleverly scored his first goal for Blauw-Zwart's A team.
Immediately after, Club was almost able to score a third time. After a fine attack a shot by Vetlesen was turned away just before the line by Musliu. Instead of 2-3, however, it became 3-2. The first chance after halftime for the Limburgers went straight in: Ferrari deviated a cross from Merlen into the goal and brought STVV back into the lead. The Bruges players then went forward with all their might. The home team had more chances through Musliu, Ferrari, Merlen and Ito, but Club also had several threats: a hard shot by Furo smashed against the crossbar, a deviation by Vetlesen was saved by Kokubo, and a scrimmage in front of goal didn't produce anything either. Club thus lost for the second time in a row and is now five points behind Union.
Jupiler Pro League - Day 17
Spectators: 10,000 - Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium
Referee: Bram Van Driessche
STVV: Leo Kokubo - Rein Van Helden, Shogo Taniguchi, Visar Musliu, Robert-Jan Vanwesemael (75' Simen Juklerod) - Rihito Yamamoto (75' Ryan Merlen), Abdoulaye Sissako, Ryotaro Ito - Arbnor Muja (87' Wolke Janssens), Keisuke Goto (73' Andrés Ferrari), Ilias Sebaoui. Coach: Wouter Vrancken.
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Hugo Siquet (64' Cisse Sandra), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys (85' Jorne Spileers) - Aleksandar Stanković (46' Carlos Forbs), Raphael Onyedika (85' Gustaf Nilsson), Hans Vanaken - Hugo Vetlesen, Nicolò Tresoldi (64' Kaye Furo), Christos Tzolis. Bank: Argus Vanden Driessche, Stefan Ostoici, Bjorn Meijer, Kyriani Sabbe and Mamadou Diakhon. Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow cards: Yamamoto, Vanwesemael, Sandra.
Red cards: none
Goals: 16' Onyedika (0-1), 21' Muja (1-1), 32' Ito (penalty, 2-1), 70' Furo (2-2), 81' Ferrari (3-2).