Club Brugge has continued its resounding European victory with a three-pointer in the competition. Club was not convinced immediately, but was able to demolish the wall of Sint-Truiden thanks to David Okereke. Club is leader for the time being, but Beerschot and Genk will still play tomorrow. The crucial game in the Champions League against Lazio awaits Club on Tuesday.
Club Brugge – STVV in a nutshell:
- Key moment: We are ten minutes into the second half when David Okereke is allowed to come in. A golden move by Clement, because the Nigerian immediately makes it 1-0 with his first action.
- Man of the match: Noa Lang has completely found his way with Club. The Dutchman, with his velvet ball touches, in combination with the necessary work ethic, is a great asset to blue-black.
- Remarkable: Club Brugge appeared today with six Belgians at the kick-off, including three boys from their own youth: Mechele, De Ketelaere and Van der Brempt.
Club dominates, but the best opportunities are for STVV
Club Brugge took control of the game from kick-off, including a great action by Sobol in the opening minutes. Vanaken, who was to get some rest but still had to start due to the failure of Vormer, immediately showed himself. He just couldn’t reach the incoming Dennis.
STVV emerged unscathed from a difficult first fifteen minutes and was then able to play football under pressure from time to time. Nazon even scored the first real scoring chance of the game, forcing Mignolet to save in the short corner.
Club continued to dominate the game with 65 percent possession, but just like against Mouscron, the sharpness and precision were lacking in front of goal. Dennis and Rits illustrated this by both wringing their necks out.
At the end of the first half it was again STVV that came close to the opening goal. Garcia aimed a free kick right to the corner, Mignolet kept his net clean with a graceful parade.
Okereke comes in and immediately makes the difference
Little change after the break: Club kept the game under control, but struggled to come out really sharp in the zone of truth. Lang aimed a rare opportunity wide.
Philippe Clement felt he had to intervene and brought Okereke for Dennis. The Nigerian did not disappoint his coach and almost immediately made the difference for Club. He appeared on a pass from Lang diagonally in front of goal and placed the ball neatly in the far corner.
The 1-0 hit hard at STVV, which actually barely managed to do anything. After his two saves in the first half, Simon Mignolet had a much quieter second period. He had to come into action once, although Suzuki’s header was not really a problem.
Club Brugge, meanwhile, failed to decide the game quickly. A few more chances followed for Lang and Okereke, but they were not finished. So it remained 1-0, Club has done what it had to do and can still travel to Rome with a good feeling.
Okereke: “Practice patience to demolish that wall”
- Jonathan Buatu (STVV): “We have shown fighting spirit and played as a team. Too bad about that one goal, but we showed some great things tonight. Of course it is never easy to play after a manager’s resignation, because that causes a lot of changes within the club. must be able to deal with that, because it is part of the craft. The fight for preservation may be a fight to the end, but with the team spirit and the fighting spirit that we have shown today, I am convinced that we will survive. “
- David Okereke (Club Brugge): “I was in the right place at the right time. My teammate gave me an excellent pass, I just had to put the ball in the corner. It was an important goal, because we knew it was going to be a difficult match. to practice patience and to demolish that wall, which in the end we succeeded. Of course, we mainly talk about the Champions League, but we are professionals and prepare ourselves thoroughly for every game, including this one. And now we take the energy of this victory will take it to Tuesday. “
- Steve de Ridder (STVV): “Before the 1-0 there was not much going on. We were quite closed today. Because we have been swallowing quite a few goals recently, we had a more conservative approach. But with that goal we just let our man run, and then You know they are punishing that. It’s a pity that you now feel like you’ve fought 90 minutes for nothing. We should start rewarding ourselves. The past few weeks we’ve played fair to good football, but nothing caught. It’s time to grab points. “
