No second victory for Beerschot against the reigning (and future?) champions Club Brugge tonight. Our Mannekes looked down and out after two early Brugge goals and ready to get slaughtered. In a much better second half however Beerschot bounced back, created a handful of good chances but Noubissi and Sanyang failed to score. In the end Club made sure the three points stayed in their bag by scoring a third goal. An exaggerated score line.
The visitors showed their intentions right from the start: high pressure and suffocating the opposition. And it worked. Beerschot were forced to defend, didn’t come up with any answers, couldn’t stop the flowing combinations… and conceded far too easy. After a quarter of an hour Dost converted a clever low ball from Lang; five minutes later Kossounou left our defenders standing and drove the ball home at the far post. The game seemed over and done already.
A dejected Beerschot reacted well and were dangerous on the counter. Holzhauser ruled in midfield, created a couple of scoring opportunities for Suzuki and Sanyang, only to be blocked by a strong Brugge defense and goalkeeper Mignolet.
During the second half and with more attacking power – coach Losada brought on three more strikers: Noubissi, Brogno and Eleke - Beerschot put Brugge’s back four under more pressure. Sanyang came a couple of inches short to convert one of Holzhauser’s great through balls, Noubissi’s drive was palmed over the bar by Mignolet and a Suzuki shot bundled away on the line. No luck for Beerschot who deserved a goal in that period.
That goal came on the other end of the pitch unfortunately. After a quick and fast counter attack it was Lang who scored Brugge’s third for an exaggerated 3-0 final score. Full credit to Beerschot however for their fighting spirit.
ATTENDANCE: 0
REFEREE: D’Hondt
GOALS: 15’ Dost 0-1, 19’ Kossounou 0-2, 83’ Lang 0-3
BEERSCHOT: Vanhamel, Frans, Van den Bergh, Van den Buijs, Halaimia (62’ Dom), Pietermaat (77’ Eleke), Coulibaly (87’ Broadbent), Vorogovskiy (46’ Noubissi), Holzhauser, Sanyang (62’ Brogno), Suzuki
CLUB BRUGGE: Mignolet, Mata, Mechele, Kossounou, Sobol (57’ Ricca), Vormer, De Ketelaere (84’ Badji), Rits (84’ Denswil), Diatta, Lang (84’ Okereke), Dost (62’ Balanta)
YELLOW CARDS: Van den Buijs, Sobol, Van den Bergh
RED CARDS: none
By Danny Geerts
Photos: Jan Mees
