Simon Mignolet: "Educated guess to dive to that corner"
Mignolet stopped a penalty kick and was applauded by an exuberant home crowd, which clearly pleased Club's No1 shortly after the game. "It may have been the tipping point, that's possible. Conceding at that point would have been undeserved." With Steuckers usually taking the penalty kicks at Genk, Mignolet knew to expect Tolu as well. "All of them have already kicked in different places. It was an educated guess to go for that corner. Fortunately he kicks it there and I can grab hold of it."
Club is now creeping closer to Genk, and is doing great in other competitions too. "The momentum is ours right now. The longer a series like this lasts, the closer the end draws near. We just have to win game by game and each time focus on the next one. There are enough games so we can always put the focus on the next game easily."
Was the difference this afternoon made by the experience in the team by players the likes of Vanaken and Mignolet? "It may be that the metier of our more experienced players made the difference here today. Although they also have players like that in their side. After the penalty it could have looked completely different. That didn't happen, and I reckon we take a deserved victory."
Brandon Mechele: "Dominant team performance"
The man behind the opener was chosen as the game's MVP, much to the surprise of the man himself. "Is that for real? I think the whole team played well. I think we were very dominant and deservedly won here." Mechele has had a great few days following the win and the tribute by the fans prior to Sporting Lisbon. "It's been a very nice week for me. It's nice to score here today, but we should definitely not forget that Mignolet kept us aflout with that penalty save. The fact that I can score here today is just great."
Hans Vanaken: "Free kick was a spur of the moment thing"
A deserved win for Club in the clash with leaders Racing Genk, although it took quite a long time before the first goal fell. Captain Hans Vanaken was clearly satisfied with the result. "A very deserved victory," were the first words of the Bruges number 20. "And I think we should have scored at least one or even two before halftime. Up until our first goal, we had fewer chances in the second half. Before that we were in full control, because Genk hadn't had any chances really until that penalty. And of course the penalty saved by Simon comes as a boost for us to go looking for that opening goal even more emphatically, backed by our fantastic crowd, and moments later Brandon managed to head it in on a corner kick. Our second goal was perhaps the most beautiful, even if that free kick was a spur of the moment thing, and not something we had rehearsed before. I saw Skov standing left all alone on the right and with nearly all Genk players in the wall, I decided to play it to him. Skov didn't hesitate and shot the ball with force inside the side netting, which meant it was done and dusted for us. We are now within one point of Genk, but that is not the end of it. Both next week at Union and next on Boxing Day at home against Westerlo, we want to take the full loot, and then we'll see where we are."(FDC)
Nicky Hayen: "Kudos to the entire staff"
An obviously very pleased Nicky Hayen had some kudos in store for his staff. "A thoroughly deserved victory. Keep in mind, however, that we played a very strong opponent. We had the better chances, but we didn't make the mistake of running forward blindly. We remained patient and that was vital. It was sour to see that spot kick awarded, but of course we were very happy to see Simon clutch that ball. As a result, the stadium was ablaze. You felt that the fans got behind it even more and that kept the belief among the players growing."
Club eventually scored two, each time through a textbook situation. "Both last week and this week we made the difference that way. So kudos to the entire staff and especially to Jarne (Kesteloot, nvdr) and Michiel (Jonckheere, nvdr). They put in an incredible amount of work and that is why they deserve the credit. They do a lot of background work. We are one team, it doesn't matter who is in front of the camera, but they deserve all the credit."
The victory takes Club to one point of leaders Genk. "We always said that we wanted to systematically reduce our gap in order to take over that leadership position over time. We are now approaching to one point, but we both still have some tough games to play. They still have Anderlecht and Antwerp, while we are up against Union and Westerlo. It just comes down to continuing to take points."