A Conferene League home game versus Turkish Besiktas JK was in store at the occasion of Club Brugge's 350th game on the European scene. A goalless first half, with many chances for Club going away, was followed up with an even more impressive second half, and a goal by Vanaken breaking the deadlock. Shortly before full time, however, Tosun drew level, offering Club a true blow after what had been an outstanding performance lacking more goals.
Blue and Black had beaten Charleroi at home after a rollercoaster of a game, so coach Deila had little reason to tweak his starting XI, except for Skóras with a first start of the season. The man in form at Club, Antonio Nusa, was offered some rest, also plagued by back pain. Another missing star of the past weeks was Zinckernagel, out ill.
Those who thought Club would think less of the Conference League after all those CL seasons were proven wrong from the onset. Lots of ball possession resulted in two corner kicks early on, and the second found Mechele by the first post, who saw his back heel cleared by the post. Some fine combination play resulted in another great chance: Sabbe with the cross to find Vanaken by the far post, heading the ball against the outside of the post. A few minutes later another fine move by Skov Olsen to find Sabbe on the wing, producing a low cross this time, but the home defence kept its cool as it cleared the ball after a scrimmage. Still only just fifteen minutes into the game, Sabbe now also took his chance, but his effort was cleared ust in time. Club's attacking intentions kept resulting in fine play, and in chances, but the efficiency was just not as high standard. Vetlesen put Thiago through, but the striker was unable to get his left-footed shot on target
Halfway through, the surge for the Turkish goal abated somewhat, leaving the visitors the chance to find their way into the game, without creating any clear danger. This resulted in somewhat of a stalemate, with only one threat by Club through Skov Olsen, cutting inside to his left foot, but his effort was too tame. The 0-0 at half time was a bad reflection of what had been a first half with a number of clear-cut chances for Club.
The same 22 names kicked off the second half, and it seemed like the break had given Besiktas a boost; a cross was misinterpreted by Spileers, with the ball ending up with Aboubakar, eye-to-eye with Mignolet. The latter reacted well, however, denying a visiting goal. Club reacted well, however, in what would turn out to be an even better second half performance. Skov Olsen found Vanaken in front of goal, but Club's skipper was unable to aim his header into the corner unsettling Günok. Ten minutes later, De Cuyper and Vetlesen set up a neat one-two, the latter lobbing the ball over the hosts' defense, where De Cuyper's one-touch striker fell towards Thiago, but the ball came too swift to help Thiago tap in the opener from extremely close range. Club now really pushed forward, and the same De Cuyper made his way to the goal line, pulling back to Skov Olsen who seemed to finally break the deadlock, were it not for Günok denying the Danish star with an ultimate foot reflex. Moments later Vetlesen was found by the back post, but this time Bailly came to the rescue of his goal keeper to put the attempt in corner kick.
Plenty to talk about, and more to come. Around the 70th minute, Skov Olsen cut inside neatly, curling the ball past Günok, but the man was having the performance of a lifetime, seemingly unbeatable as he again got a hand to what surely looked like a goal. What was in the air for the entire game, really, finally came as Jan Breydel erupted, seeing Vanaken tapping in Skov Olsen's great cross after an excellent run, starting from his own half. The hosts now kept pushing, but Günok again saved the deny pawing away Nielsen's hard shot, and proving the better of Vetlesen's long range attempt. Club would regret the many missed chances as Nielsen's attempt to cross to the other wing turned out to be a horror pass ending up with Tosun, who did not falter all alone in front of Mignolet: 1-1.
So much bad luck could easily have come as a blow to the home team, but Club still managed to stand up and create more danger. The best one came well into injury time: Vanaken put Jutglà through on the left wing, making his way to the back line, chipping the ball in front of the goal mound where both Thiago and Onyedika proved unable to send it home, much to the despair of both players. A certain win slipped out of the hosts' hands, leaving Jan Breydel frustrated after what had been a thrilling performance by the home side.
UEFA Europa Conference League – Match Day 1
Audience: 29,042 – Jan Breydel Stadium
Ref: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Kyriani Sabbe (90+2’ Dedryck Boyata), Brandon Mechele, Jorne Spileers, Maxim De Cuyper – Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken (c), Hugo Vetlesen (79’ Ferran Jutglà) - Andreas Skov Olsen, Igor Thiago, Michal Skóras (61’ Casper Nielsen).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Argus Vanden Driessche, Joel Ordóñez, Denis Odoi, Ferran Jutglà, Victor Barberá, Casper Nielsen, Dedryck Boyata, Éder Balanta, Shion Homma.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
Besiktas JK: Mert Günok (c) – Valentin Rosier (84’ Cenk Tosun), Eric Bailly (84’ Necip Uysal), Daniel Amartey, Arthur Masuaku – Milot Rashica (66’ Onur Bulut), Amir Hadziahmetovic (84’ Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain), Gedson Fernandes, Ege Tiknaz, Jackson Muleka (66’ Baktiyor Zainutdinov) – Vincent Aboubakar.
Bench: Ersin Destanoglu, Onur Bulut, Omar Colley, Ante Rebic, Salih Ucan, Cenk Tosun, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rachid Gezzal, Necip Uysal, Baktiyor Zainutdinov, Jean Onana, Semih Kilicsoy.
Coach: Senol Günes.
Yellow: Mechele, Amartey, Onyedika, Vetlesen, Spileers, Mignolet, Vanaken
Red: none
Goals: 77’ Vanaken (1-0), 88’ Tosun (1-1)