Brandon Mechele: "Leko can always treat with an extra day off"
Three goals and a first clean sheet in the Jupiler Pro League under the reign of coach Ivan Leko. The evening could not have gone better for defender Brandon Mechele. "It's always nice to keep the three points at home, especially when it can be done without a goal against. We played against a low block and so it was just really good that we scored three goals before halftime. Then the game was actually already played."
After halftime, the Bridge players continued to play their game. Coach Ivan Leko encouraged his defenders to move the ball around quickly.
"It is logical that it was a little slower in our ball circulation and in our speed. The pace dropped after halftime, maybe we can get better at that."
It was his 81st consecutive game for Mechele. So he didn't have to think for long when asked what Ivan Leko may treat him with after his birthday. "An extra day off, that would be welcome," the Breden native smiled.
Aleksandar Stanković: "This 3-0 victory is definitely good for confidence"
"A thickly deserved win," Aleksandar Stanković spoke a few minutes after the final whistle. "We were immediately well in the game and played with the appropriate mentality to disrupt the Standard block sooner or later. In fact, we played pretty much the perfect match, because our opponent didn't get a chance to get into the game, even after we took a 3-0 lead before halftime. Now don't think that everything was smooth sailing, not at all. Every week we are up against a very closed defense and I understand that it seems like tonight was an easy win, but it certainly wasn't. It's true that even in the second half we still had plenty of chances to increase the score, but unfortunately we didn't succeed.
Nonetheless, I'm glad we were able to keep the zero once again, and that's something we can continue to build on. This 3-0 victory is definitely good for confidence and so we can look forward with confidence to the next task, which is the derby against Cercle."
Nicolò Tresoldi: "The combinations at training turned out well"
After Romeo Vermant and Christos Tzolis dropped out, Nicolò Tresoldi got his chance up front again. He thanked his coach's confidence with a goal and an excellent game.
"I'm always happy when I can help the team. We trained on a lot of combinations this week and it worked out well."
In addition to his goal, the striker also nearly had an assist.
"Soon I'm going to exchange a few words with Kyriani Sabbe anyway. Too bad I don't get to put an assist after my name there," he joked.
Carlos Forbs: "We were on point from the kickoff"
"I think we got a well-deserved win tonight," Carlos Forbs spoke afterwards. "We were on point from the kickoff and it came down to not letting Standard get into the game. I thought we were very patient in the build-up and passed the ball around very well. In the end it was just waiting for us to break the spell and hope that some holes would appear in their defense, and I thought that worked out quite well.
Even in the second half we had chances to extend the score, but in the end I can live with the 3-0 final win. Of course this victory was much needed to avoid losing touch with the top. From tomorrow we can prepare for next weekend's derby, because I have already heard that only a win against our neighbors can satisfy our supporters."
Ivan Leko: "Players showed a lot of focus and energy"
Ivan Leko was very pleased with his team's performance. "It was a deserved victory. We brought good soccer, the players showed a lot of focus and energy and put in an excellent performance. Club Brugge-Standard is always a nice poster and extra special for me because I also had a great time at Standard. It is, like Club, a team with a lot of passion. If you can win a match like that, that gives you a boost anyway. We are taking another step forward and will train hard again next week to get better."
Blauw-Zwart, however, had a difficult preparation. "Five players dropped out due to illness, so we had to change everything this morning. As a result, we couldn't train with our expected starting line-up, but the players did a great job. When you are leading 3-0, you know that some laziness can creep in. The first ten minutes after halftime were less, but other than that my guys did very well. We still had several chances to win 4 or 5-0. It now comes down to getting a good rest tomorrow and focusing on the derby against Cercle from Tuesday."