12 points have become 9. Club Brugge is approaching Union again thanks to a win against Charleroi. Mats Rits was the absolute star of the blue-black team with two goals – the first before half time, the second after. Simon Mignolet held onto the lead with a handful of excellent saves.
Club Brugge – Charleroi in a nutshell
- Key moment: Just before the hour, Mechele catches a dangerous shot from Gholizadeh in his stomach. Club Brugge then mounts a furious counter-attack, which is completed in great detail by Rits. Charleroi then misses the opportunities to make it really exciting.
- Man of the Match: Two goals for a rather defensive midfielder, then you can’t miss Mats Rits. Honorable mentions go to Odoi (a revelation out of 6), N’Soki (at the base at the goals) and Mignolet (some crucial saves).
- Remarkable: In the previous six clashes between Club and Charleroi, only six goals have been scored. In this match alone, six goals could have been scored, but a combination of poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping decided otherwise.
Charleroi runs into the knife on Bruges counter
Partly due to the unavailability of Dost and Buchanan, Schreuder again opted for a surprising position with Odoi in the center of midfield. At Charleroi Morioka was missing and Heymans was allowed to start.
Club Brugge immediately tried to lock up the visitors, but once again there was too little momentum in the ball circulation. Chances were therefore not able to decorate blue-black for a long time. Charleroi did that with an opportunistic shot from Heymans.
Club only showed sharpness halfway through the first half. Sobol was unable to complete De Ketelaere’s delightful preparatory work. What was impossible with patient knitting, succeeded on the counter. Odoi crossed half the field with the ball at his foot, and with some luck passed it to Rits, who opened the score.
Mignolet and Kamara keep score limited
Charleroi did not accept that 1-0 and started the second period energetically. Substitute Gholizadeh jabbed the ball just too far for Bayo and was able to walk a little later after a wrong pass by Mata. The 1-1 was in the air, but Mechele was in between. A minute later, after another razor-sharp attack, Rits drove the 2-0 into the roof of the goal.
The Zebras refused to be led to the slaughter, though it took them a while to get out of the blue-black grip. Tchatchoua collided with Mignolet’s broad bark at a unique opportunity. That was the starting signal for a long series of misses and/or hard saves. For example, Skov Olsen did not get the ball over Kamara.
The Dane later captured the ball to repeat his earlier miss. Tchatchoua was also allowed to retake his exam and was again bottled by Professor Mignolet. For Sandra, who came in late, even a gaping goal – admittedly with two outfield players from Charleroi in the way – was not enough to score. And that way it stayed at 2-0.
Skov Olsen: “Important to show resilience”
Andreas Skov Olsen took a satisfying victory with Club Brugge. “It was very important to show resilience as a team. This was a great night to give the fans three points. I could have scored a few times, but I had some bad luck. The keeper also saved very well. time.”
The Danish winger did manage to hand out an assist. “That was a very good goal from the team, on a kind of counter. I got the ball, went around my defender and saw Mats all alone at the first post. A beautiful goal from him.”
Skov Olsen is gradually starting to find his rhythm in Bruges. “In the first half space was limited. In the second half it was more open. It makes sense if the opponent has to come. That was better for me. I love it here!”
Heymans: “Feeling that there was more to it”
Daan Heymans and Charleroi were left with a nagging feeling. “Club may have been in a dip, but it is and remains a top team. I had the feeling that there was something more in it. We had a few nice opportunities, but we didn’t play them well.”
“The integration is going well,” said the attacking midfielder. “I was very satisfied with my first half. I am absolutely not 100% conditionally yet. I have had corona and I felt that a bit.”
How does Heymans see his future after six months of Serie A at Venezia? “A career is not that long. Financially it is all nice, but in the end you want to be on the field and have fun. Next year I really want to become a teacher here.”
