On matchday 2 of the Champions' Play-offs , Club Brugge made its way to Stayen to tackle Sint-Truiden. In the first half, the home team took the lead through Ito, 1-0 also the score at halftime. Early in the second half Club drew level through Vetlesen and eventually Tzolis from the spot ensured an important 1-2 victory at Stayen.
Having opened their Champions' Play-offs last week with a fine 4-2 victory against RSC Anderlecht, coach Ivan Leko had little reason to shuffle his pawns, but an unfortunate injury forced him to do so nonetheless: a hamstring injury keeps Mignolet off the pitch, meaning Jackers reclaimed his place between the posts. No new names for the rest. The Canaries, a dangerous hurdle to take at their own Wasabi stadium, only saw one change as Musliu manned the center of defense at the expense of Mbe Soh.
The opening minutes saw Club claiming the most possession with some fine circulation, but the first goal threat did come from the home side just three minutes in: Yamamoto captured the ball from Tresoldi in midfield and then was handed the ball back from Ito. The blast from outside the box was well within reach of Jackers, but Club's goalie still chose to push the ball safely away. Just before the quarter hour mark, STVV got a free kick just outside the penalty area, but Ito curled the ball quite high over. Club's reply followed soon after, as Tzolis came inside and was able to strike towards goal, but Sissako was in the path of the shot, deviating it into a corner with his head. That corner also produced something as Sabbe found Tresoldi at the far post, and Club's top scorer had something beautiful in mind, but his volley from close range landed over Kokubo's cage. 22 minutes in, it was the hosts that claimed the lead, after some beautiful combination play set up Ito in front of Jackers, the Japanese slicing it in below the Bruges goalie (1-0).
A setback for Club that was pushed towards the brink even more a bit later, as Forbs collided with his head hard against Sabbe's knee. Both players were so stricken that a double substitution was immediately called for, Siquet and Diakhon making their appearance after only half an hour. The latter tried his luck straight away when the ball fell from a corner, but his shot went high over. Shortly before halftime, STVV got a corner kick; they played it out with a fine variation and played it low towards the edge of the penalty area where Sebaoui was waiting to slam it towards goal, but fortunately for Club the ball was slightly deflected and again went into corner off the outside of the post. A few minutes later that same Sebaoui proved dangerous upon a corner kick, but this time his blast was parried by Jackers.
A notable change at halftime, as Diakhon, just on, remained in the locker room, allowing Vetlesen 45 minutes to help and turn the tide. That intervention paid off almost immediately, as after only a few minutes the score was leveled... by Vetlesen! Taniguchi with the poor ball towards his goalkeeper, eagerly intercepted by Club's Norwegian midfielder, heading towards Kokubo alone. The Japanese defender tried making up for his mistake, but tackled the ball towards goal and in the path of Vetlesen, sliding in the 1-1. An hour played, Club pushed forward again as Siquet found Tresoldi to deviate it towards the free Vanaken, but the captain could not get a good touch to the ball leaving Kokubo without work. Halfway through the second half, it was Tzolis' turn to try his luck, but he too proved unsuccessful: in his typical style, the Greek winger cut inside to then aim for the far corner, but his attempt went just wide of target.
After seventy minutes, the home team showed themselves once again through Muja who entered the box from the left. The winger was able to aim at goal, but fortunately his attempt was deflected into a corner. That corner also produced a threat, but Musliu completely missed his shot. Club's response came quickly via a cross from Siquet to the far post where Vetlesen headed it against Vanwesemael's arm, leaving ref D'Hondt no option but to resolutely point towards the spot. Tzolis put himself behind the ball, and one hard shot in the side netting later, Club was in the lead (1-2). As the minutes went by, the alarm bells rang in Club's box as Vanaken was unable to clear it from outside the box, leaving Goto the chance to pop at goal from close range. Jackers reacted alertly, however, and Club's goalie also stood ground as Matsuzawa tried from that same attack, helping Club prevent the equalizer.
An extra seven minutes were counted and in this the home team was once again dangerous. Pupe played a long ball towards Goto, who deviated the leather with his knee just wide of the post. In the end, nothing more changed and so Club starts the Champions' Play-offs with an important 6 out of 6!
Champions' Play-offs - Match Day 2
Audience: 14,000 - Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium
Referee: Mr. Lothar D'Hondt
Sint-Truiden VV: Leo Kokubo - Robert-Jan Vanwesemael (82' Ryan Merlen), Visar Musliu, Shogo Taniguchi, Taiga Hata (86' Joedrick Pupe) - Arbnor Muja (74' Kaito Matsuzawa), Rihito Yamamoto, Ryotaro Ito (86' Oumar Diouf), Abdoulaye Sissako, Ilias Sebaoui - Keisuke Goto.
Bench: Jo Coppens, Matt Lendfers, Simen Juklerød, Loïc Mbe Soh, Oumar Diouf, Wolke Janssens, Kaito Matsuzawa, Alouis Diriken, Joedrick Pupe, Ryan Merlen.
Coach: Wouter Vrancken.
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers - Kyriani Sabbe (29' Hugo Siquet), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys - Aleksandar Stanković, Raphael Onyedika (89' Jorne Spileers), Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs (29' Mamadou Diakhon (46' Hugo Vetlesen)), Nicolò Tresoldi (83' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Axl De Corte, Jorne Spileers, Hugo Siquet, Bjorn Meijer, Hugo Vetlesen, Cisse Sandra, Félix Lemaréchal, Mamadou Diakhon, Romeo Vermant.
Coach: Ivan Leko.
Yellow: Kokubo, Sebaoui, Diouf, Spileers, Vetlesen
Red: none
Goals: 22' Ito (1-0), 48' Vetlesen (1-1), 80' Tzolis (1-2)