A tricky trip to Anderlecht's Lotto Parc was in store for Club on Match Day 6 of the Champions' Playoffs. An owngoal by Angély early on made it 0-1 at half time, but in a rampant second half, Club further widened the gap through Forbs and Tzolis. Cvetković' goal turned out to be too little too late. The win helps Club piggyback Union towards first place.
A fine win for Blue and Black in the Battle of Flanders against AA Gent last weekend, so little use in changing a winning team. The same XI started the game at Anderlecht, Vetlesen thus once again at the center of midfield and the attacking trio consisting of Forbs, Tzolis and Tresoldi. The hosts welcomed De Cat back in the selection, but the promising youngster started out on the bench. Finally, young Angély's start in the center of defense also stood out.
With rain pouring down at the start of the match, the players had trouble finding their footing, causing a few slip-ups. After a few minutes, however, it was Club that created the first goal threat through Tzolis. A deep ball to Forbs was misjudged by Augustinsson, allowing the Portuguese winger to advance towards goal. Instead of going for his own glory, he pulled it back to Tresoldi, who in turn played it to Tzolis. The latter came inside, but his effort was deviated into corner kick. Soon after, the order was reversed and it was Tzolis finding Tresoldi, firing toward goal, but Coosemans went flat well. Early threats that begged for more, and soon the deserved lead came as Forbs surged forward, putting it deep to Tresoldi inside the box. The German then had a fine cross in store, but found Angély in his way, getting an unfortunate tap to the ball to see it fly in his own goal (0-1). Club kept asking the Anderlecht defense all kinds of questions, and Tzolis was allowed through on goal, but missed eye-to-eye with Coosemans deflecting the ball with the deftest of touches to send the ball hitting the post. A good fifteen minutes in, Jackers collided with Diarra and Tresoldi, and was forced off injured, van den Heuvel claiming his spot between the sticks.
Another forced substitution followed for the hosts as an injured Diarra was replaced by Ilić. After a good half hour, the home side had their first chance of the night, but van den Heuvel had little trouble with Degreef's central shot. The visitors responded almost immediately with an opportunity for Vetlesen, but his left-footed kick from just outside the penalty area went several meters over. A few minutes later Club got a corner kick and Tzolis found the head of Siquet by the far post, seeing the ball end up with Stanković to strike at it from just outside the sixteen. Ilić put his head against the ball and so Coosemans did not have to intervene. In the ensuing corner, Ordóñez was unable to deviate the ball sufficiently with his head. Club kept on the lookout for that second goal, and after a pass from Siquet Tzolis tried his luck, but was unable to frame his shot. Eight minutes of added time were counted and in it Anderlecht was dangerous just once more. Degreef controlled a deflected ball on the edge of the sixteen and then delivered a cracked shot, seeing the ball end up with Llansana, but fortunately the latter was unable to get a fine touch to the ball to really unsettle the Club goalie. The final say in this first half was finally for Stanković, but his blast from a distance went several meters wide of target.
The second half started with one change for the home team, as De Cat replaced Llansana to bring more fervour to a home side trying to put the score in balance. De Cat took charge of the first danger, but his shot from an acute angle was harmless and went wide and over. Moments later Club responded with a corner that was deflected by Mechele, reaching Tresoldi at the far post, stretching to have a fine stab at it, but the ball went wide. Ten minutes into the second half, Hazard cut inside aiming for the far corner, but the former Red Devil was unable to curl it sufficiently. Moments later, a bad pass in by Coosemans resulted in a quick counterattack, the ball going round quickly to find Seys on the left wing, finding Forbs all alone inside the box (0-2). A serieous blow for the hosts, and one more would follow just two minutes later, as Vetlesen neatly put Tzolis through on goal, with the Greek winger finding the perfect spot to tap it in to take Club to a 0-3 lead. The home team tried brushing off through an attempt by Cvetković, but van den Heuvel went flat well.
About halfway through the second half, the visitors were in control of the game, spurring Leko to make a triple substitution, sending Vermant, Spileers and Sandra on. Moments later, Club almost added a fourth: Vanaken with the clever back heel to find Tzolis inside the box, but this time the Greek proved less sturdy as he put it wide of target. Shortly after, Vermant was put through on goal, but this time Coosemans got a foot to the young striker's effort. Anderlecht still remained somewhat in the game and after eighty minutes, Kana sent a beautiful ball to the second post where Bertaccini tried it in one time. However, he did not kick the ball perfectly and the ball disappeared into the side netting. Two minutes later, the 1-3 fell through Cvetković who worked an assist from Bertaccini into goal from close range. Shortly before the end of regular playing time, Club almost conceded a painful 2-3 as Cvetković captured the ball and then laid off for Huerta who kicked well towards goal. Fortunately, van den Heuvel had an excellent parry in store to prevent further damage.
In the end, five extra minutes were added, but nothing more changed. A deserved win for Club at Anderlecht, helping the team in securing that coveted Nr 1 spot in the table.
Champions' Play-offs - Match day 6
Audience: 21,000 - Lotto Park
Referee: Mr. Nicolas Laforge
RSC Anderlecht: Colin Coosemans - Ilay Camara (69' Ibrahim Kanaté), Mathys Angély, Moussa Diarra (29' Mihajlo Ilić), Ludwig Augustinsson - Enric Llansana (46' Nathan De Cat), Marco Kana, Yari Verschaeren (76' César Huerta) - Thorgan Hazard (69' Adriano Bertaccini), Mihajlo Cvetković, Tristan Degreef.
Bench: Justin Heekeren, Mihajlo Ilić, Lucas Hey, Ali Maamar, César Huerta, Coba da Costa, Nathan De Cat, Ibrahim Kanaté, Mats Rits, Joshua Nga Kana, Adriano Bertaccini.
Coach: Jérémy Taravel.
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers (20' Dani van den Heuvel) - Hugo Siquet (75' Jorne Spileers), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys - Aleksandar Stanković (79' Raphael Onyedika), Hugo Vetlesen, Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs (75' Cisse Sandra), Nicolò Tresoldi (75' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Jorne Spileers, Bjorn Meijer, Raphael Onyedika, Cisse Sandra, Lynnt Audoor, Mamadou Diakhon, Romeo Vermant, Gustaf Nilsson.
Coach: Ivan Leko.
Yellow: Vetlesen, De Cat, Kana, Sandra
Red: None
Goals: 8' Angély (owngoal) (0-1), 59' Forbs (0-2), 61' Tzolis (0-3), 83' Cvetković (1-3)