Club Brugge secured a spectacular 4-3 victory against Zulte Waregem on their own field. Blauw-Zwart took an early lead through Stanković, but then forgot to convert its total dominance into more goals. The visitors punished that and scored the 1-2 against the run of play. After the break, Club still took a deserved victory thanks to goals from Mechele, Stanković and Tresoldi. Opoku still made it exciting, but Blauw-Zwart held on.
Bruges' starting lineup underwent two changes compared to Tuesday's match in Kazakhstan. Joel Ordóñez was suspended after his red card last week against La Louvière and was replaced at center back by Jorne Spileers. In midfield, Raphael Onyedika - back from the Africa Cup - took his place again, at the expense of Hugo Vetlesen. Tzolis had not yet recovered and so Mamadou Diakhon - standout against Kairat Almaty - retained his starting place.
The Brugge side monopolized the ball from the opening minute and were able to force a few openings early on. The first chance was for Diakhon, who cut inside well but could not frame his shot. After five minutes, it did hit the mark: Aleksandar Stanković kicked a cross from Seys into goal in one time. Club continued to completely dominate the match even after that: Gabriel caught a shot by Forbs, an effort by Vanaken was blocked and Diakhon seemed to curl the 0-2 into goal via the far post. However, the goal was disallowed due to very close offside.
Blauw-Zwart played Zulte Waregem from pillar to post and even had ninety percent possession of the ball. Another attempt by Diakhon hit the post and a shot by Vanaken was blocked. The visitors did not know what wood arrows are made of, but struck mercilessly in the closing stages of the first half: Aké surprised Jackers with a lob ball from an oblique angle and immediately afterwards Ementa mercilessly punished Onyedika's ball loss. So suddenly it was 1-2 completely against the flow of the game.
Club was not deterred, however, and immediately went in search of the equalizer. A shot by Diakhon went wide and Vermant was unable to convert a cross from Sabbe. Right after half time, Mechele headed a corner kick from Diakhon into the goal, bringing the score back into balance. The Bruges players continued to push forward. Gabriel had a great foot rebound on a deflected shot by Sabbe and immediately after that another attempt by Sabbe was blocked.
The deserved 3-2 fell on the hour after a wonderful attack: after some clever combinations, Vanaken brought the leather in front of goal, where Stanković took the ball on the chest and kicked it in on the turn. The Bruges players were eager for more security and kept pushing. Goalkeeper Gabriel had to save attempts by Vermant and Onyedika. In the end it was the substitute Tresoldi who seemed to decide the match. After a nice action by Forbs, the German kicked in the 4-2.
The spoils seemed to be in but that was beyond Zulte Waregem. Opoku was able to kick in the 4-3 two minutes later, making it exciting after all. Moments later Mechele headed in a free kick, but that goal was disallowed because of a foul. The visitors pulled out all the stops in the closing stages, but Club held on. It can look forward with confidence to next Wednesday's crucial game against Olympique Marseille.
Jupiler Pro League - Match day 22
Spectators: 25,000 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Bert Verbeke
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers - Kyriani Sabbe (81' Hugo Siquet), Brandon Mechele, Jorne Spileers (75' Vince Osuji), Joaquin Seys - Aleksandar Stanković, Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs (90' Bjorn Meijer), Romeo Vermant (75' Nicolò Tresoldi), Mamadou Diakhon (81' Hugo Vetlesen). Bench: Simon Mignolet, Tian Nai Koren, Ludovit Reis and Cisse Sandra. Coach: Ivan Leko.
SV Zulte Waregem: Brent Gabriël - Lukas Willen (64' Tochukwu Nnadi), Anton Tanghe (64' Benoit De Jaegere), Jakob Kiilerich - Benoit Nyssen, Thomas Claes (79' Tobias Hedl), Enrique Lofolomo, Emran Soglo (31' Yannick Cappelle) - Jeppe Erenbjerg, Anosike Ementa (64' Joseph Opoku), Marley Aké. Coach: Sven Vandenbroeck.
Yellow cards: Kiilerich, Ementa, Forbs, De Jaegere, Mechele, Vanaken.
Red cards: none
Goals: 6' Stanković (1-0), 38' Aké (1-1), 40' Ementa (1-2), 47' Mechele (2-2), 60' Stanković (3-2), 78' Tresoldi (4-2), 80' Opoku (4-3).