The penultimate game of the regular league put Bruges greats Cercle and Club head-to-head at the Jan Breydel. After Vanaken had put Club in front, a Jutglà brace put the result beyond doubt before Diakité netted the 1-3, but this could not keep Club from earning another derby win!
Fine performance, poor result against Aston Villa, but coach Nicky Hayen saw no reason to reshuffle his team against the neighbours, lining up the same eleven that had taken on the English on Tuesday. Club looked towards Talbi, Tzolis and Jutglà to take care of the goals against a Cercle side that had changed its team in five positions compared to the Starting XI against Jagiellonia Bialystok from Poland.
A fine start by the hosts came with two corner kicks in the first five, without any further danger, however. Club lured for the break, but was unable to make the most on the space offered for now. Ten minutes into the first half, Tzolis was sent deep, cutting inside to try his luck, but the ball took a deflection and came towards Talbi, but the corner proved too acute to frame his attempt. Cercle had a fine reaction in store, as Magnée tried from jut outside the box, but Mignolet had a fine view and easily pawed it away. Next up was Tzolis teeing up Vanaken on the edge of the box, with the captain taking it to his left foot, but unable to get a good crack at it as it sailed wide. A bit later, Van Der Bruggen had the time and the space to try from afar, but his shot whizzed just over the crossbar.
The next chance for Club proved golden. An attack through the left came towards Jashari, touching it past Ravych with a tremendous touch, and finding Vanaken in front of goal to tap in the 0-1. Cercle's fine intentions grinded to a halt as it was even 0-2 a bit later. This time Jutglà set up the attack, putting Vanaken through on the right who pulled it back to the Spaniard, chipping the 0-2 past a desperate Cercle goalie. And Cercle's woes were not over just yet, as a great ball deep from Sabbe found Talbi on the right, beating his opponent in speed and pulling it back to find Club's forward in the centre, touching it past a defender and taking it in his stride to fire it past Delanghe (0-3). A thumping seemed in the making, and Cercle wouldn't have of it , trying to get back through Brunner from an acute angle, but the ball went over. The visitors now completely in charge, a fourth seemed a-coming as Jutglà's neat ball over the host defense put Jashari through, but this time Delanghe came out well to deny further damage. The last chance was for Tzolis, slipping through the off-side trap, but unable to lob the Cercle goalie.
With changes on both sides of the pitch, the two teams kicked off the second half. Hayen allowed Onyedika some rest to make way for Vetlesen, and Cercle hoped to be able to turn the tide with Augusto and Minda coming on for Brunner and Francis. The hosts took the initiative again without really asking Mignolet questions, and the first real threat came on the other side of the pitch as some swift combining ended up with Sabbe, but the young right back saw his left-footed strike go just wide. Sixty minutes in, the home fans saw some revival to their remontada hopes as Diakité took a corner kick in one go, surprising De Cuyper by the far post as it tumbled in. Trying to lift the pressure and take the air out of the sprouting Cercle wings, coach Hayen brought on Skóraś and Romero for Talbi and Ordóñez.
The pace of the game now decided to take a downward turn, resulting in a lot of recess. Diakité again tried his luck from inside the box, but this time his shot got blocked, and the game now really grinded to a halt. With ten minutes to go, Augusto received it inside the box, taking it in the turn, but firing it high over. Club also had its chances, with Jutglà rushing through on the break, but firing it just wide of target. Finding a team mate might have been the better option, but the Catalan saw his chance to complete his hattrick.
The many interruptions came with nine minutes of added time, in which the visitors created some more chances to score that fourth. A fine Jutglà found Siquet but his goalbound shot was first blocked by Perrin, and in the ensuing action Nilsson was found in front of goal, but this time Ravych saved it from the goal line. The same fate went for Club's last chance, as Skóraś tried to back-heel it in, but again the ball was cleared just before going over the line. A neat derby win for Club, making its way to Aston Villa on Wednesday in confidence!
Jupiler Pro League – Match Day 29
Audience: 14,500 – Jan Breydel Stadium
Ref: Mr. Bram Van Driessche
Cercle Brugge: Maxime Delanghe – Ibrahim Diakité, Christiaan Ravych, Lucas Perrin – Erick Nunes, Hannes Van Der Bruggen (82’ Steve Ngoura), Abu Francis (46’ Alan Minda (68’ Nazinho)), Lawrence Agyekum, Gary Magnée (76’ Bruninho) - Thibo Somers, Paris Brunner (46’ Felipe Augusto).
Bench: Warleson, Nazinho, Emmanuel Kakou, Edgaras Utkus, Alan Minda, Nils De Wilde, Bruninho, Felipe Augusto, Steve Ngoura.
Coach: Ferdinand Feldhofer.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Kyriani Sabbe (73’ Hugo Siquet), Joel Ordóñez (62’ Zaid Romero), Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper – Raphael Onyedika (46’ Hugo Vetlesen), Ardon Jashari, Hans Vanaken – Chemsdine Talbi (62’ Michał Skóraś), Ferran Jutglà, Christos Tzolis (73’ Gustaf Nilsson).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Axl De Corte, Zaid Romero, Hugo Siquet, Hugo Vetlesen, Casper Nielsen, Michał Skóraś, Romeo Vermant, Gustaf Nilsson.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow: Ordóñez, Onyedika, Van Der Bruggen, Augusto, Siquet
Red: none
Goals: 26’ Vanaken (0-1), 34’ Jutglà (0-2), 36’ Jutglà (0-3), 58’ Diakité (1-3)