A stalemate at Jan Breydel as Club Brugge and Westerlo piggy back each other throughout a memorable game ending in 5-5. With minutes to play in the first half, Club was trailing 0-2, but Tresoldi, Forbs and Seys overturned the crooked situation, only to see the visitors draw level and again go over Club, but again Club seemed victory bound as Tresoldi and Meyer made it 5-4 with seconds to play. But the game ended in style for the visitors as Bayram was all too eager to stab in the 5-5 with the very last touch of the game.
September is abrim with games for Club, forcing coach Nicky Hayen to reshuffle his team in three positions, bringing on Spileers and Seys for Ordóñez and Meijer, and offering Stanković some rest as Lynnt Audoor manmed the pitch. Victories against Monaco and STVV came with a boost of confidence, but that received a serious blow very early on in the game, ast Josimar Alcócer tapped in a fine Sakamoto cross by the far post to make it 0-1 after just 25 seconds.
A shock to the system, but Club immediately went on the lookout for the equaliser, as Vanaken's attempt was blocked, and Tzolis had a flurry of chances to draw level: his first attempt was off-target, his second was pushed away by Jungdal and his final attempt ended up on the wrong side of the post. A Tresoldi effort also suffered a deflection away from goal. Possession was clearly for the hosts, which did not mean the visitors were forceless: Sakamoto's attempt trickled past, and an attentful Jackers saved the day denying Sayyadmanesh and Haspolat.
With half time in clear view now, Westerlo almost handed it over on a silver plate, but Jungdal was able to clear a bad ball played back by Kimura just in time. Instead of 1-1 the score even went to 0-2 as a deflected shot by Ferri took a brilliant curve as it sailed in by the far post. Club now really needed a goal to keep the game alive, and it managed to do so: Vanaken found Audoor inside the box who laid up Tresoldi to fire in the 1-2 of hope.
Diakhon now on for Audoor, Club now kept pushing for that equaliser, which soon arrived as Carlos Forbs cut inside neatly and brushed it in the top left hand corner with a massive strike (2-2). And still it was not over, as Westerlo also was adament to make it a night to remember: an Alcócer shot went over, while Ferri was unable to score on two more occasions. A sigh of relief went through Jan Breydel, which only grew larger as Joaquin Seys made his way inside the box to perfectly slot it in by the far corner.
Surely this couldn't go wrong for the hosts, but the Kemphanen proved true to their name, fighting to get that good result. Sixty minutes in, Ferri headed in the equaliser, and moments later Sakamoto even made it 3-4 with a tap-in from close range. Club was now forced to put all its cards on attack, leaving itself open to more breaks by the visitors. First Ordóñez troubled Ferri enough to miss a fine chance through on goal, and a bit later Jackers was called upon twice to withstand further damage.
Time was not in Club's favour, but forfeiting was not an option. A hard shot by Vermant went over, but the deserved equaliser came straight after as Vermant first hit the post but Tresoldi followed up well heading in the 4-4. Seven minutes of added time might even turn it around completely, and it came to be, as Meijer was found inside the box, trying to find a team mate in front, but the ball got deflected off Bayram and went in goal (5-4). A lead with just one minute to go, but this rollercoaster of a game was not done just yet. An ultimate corner kick saw the visiting goalie head forward for that final thrust, and it helped as the ball ended up with Bayram to fire it in amongst a sea of legs (5-5). Missing out on two points, Club now climbs to second position, six units behind runaway leaders Union.
Jupiler Pro League – Match Day 5
Toeschouwers: 24.000 – Jan Breydel Stadium
Ref: Mr. Lawrence Visser
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers – Kyriani Sabbe (68’ Bjorn Meijer), Jorne Spileers, Brandon Mechele (68’ Joel Ordóñez), Joaquin Seys – Lynnt Audoor (46’ Mamadou Diakhon), Raphael Onyedika (15’ Aleksandar Stanković), Hans Vanaken – Carlos Forbs (77’ Romeo Vermant), Nicolò Tresoldi, Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Axl De Corte, Hugo Siquet, Cisse Sandra en Kaye Furo.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
KVC Westerlo: Andreas Jungdal – Bryan Reynolds, Emin Bayram, Seiji Kimura, Tuur Rommens – Dogucan Haspolat, Arthur Piedfort (71’ Thomas Van den Keybus), Isa Sakamoto (79’ Kyan Vaesen) – Allahyar Sayyadmanesh (71’ Adedire Mebude), Nacho Ferri (79’ Mathias Fixelles), Josimar Alcócer (60’ Griffin Yow).
Coach: Issame Charaï.
Yellow: Sayyadmanesh, Bayram, Rommens, Seys.
Red: none
Goals: 1’ Alcócer (0-1), 45+2’ Ferri (0-2), 45+4’ Tresoldi (1-2), 49’ Forbs (2-2), 56’ Seys (3-2), 61’ Ferri (3-3), 68’ Sakamoto (3-4), 88’ Tresoldi (4-4), 90+2’ Meijer (5-4), 90+8’ Bayram (5-5).