An easy qualification for the Round of 16 for Club Brugge after a big 6-1 victory against Eendracht Aalst Lede. Goals by Mechele, Campbell and an own goal sent Club cruising, and after the break, Diakhon and Sandra with a brace took care of the 6-1 final score.
Nicky Hayen shook up the team that had beaten Antwerp on Sunday, with Mechele and Vanaken the only ones left in the starting lineup. Mechele was joined at the back by Siquet, Spileers, Romero and goalkeeper Dani van den Heuvel, making his official debut for the seniors. In midfield, Sandra and Vetlesen joined captain Vanaken, while up front Diakhon and Campbell played in support of deep striker Furo.
Eendracht Aalst Lede shares first place in Third Division A, and was quietly hoping on creating an upset at Jan Breydel. Those hopes were crushed early on, as the home side pushed the pedal to the metal from the opening minute. A first threat just one minute in was tucked in by Diakhon, but the goal was disallowed due to offside. Immediately after, Furo was inches short of tapping in a Siquet cross. Moments later Club's pressure finally paid off: a shot by Vetlesen allowed Mechele to send in the 1-0 from close range. A second goal followed still within the first fifteen minutes, as an action by Furo ended up with Shandre Campbell scoring the 2-0.
A swift break for Club, and the visitors had to pull out all the stops to avoid any further Club damage: goalkeeper Cooman made a fine save to deny a shot by Sandra, while attempts by Romero, Campbell and Furo went wide or over, and a goal by Furo was again disallowed. Moments later, Furo beat the visiting defense to the ball, but his shot went off the goalkeeper against the post. The logical 3-0 finally fell shortly before halftime, as Diakhon's cross was deviated in goal by Lars Wantens.
More debutants for Club after the break, as Vince Osuji and Alejandro Granados manned the pitch with the seniors for the first time, with Mechele and Vanaken remaining inside. The first minutes will be ones to forget for young Osuji, however, as he faultered, seeing the ball end up with Joran Triest to go at it all alone, firing in the 3-1, much to the joy of the visiting fans. A few minutes later, Club was able to put things straight again, as Diakhon cut inside and curled the leather into goal off of Bauwens' head.
Bruges now started lifting the pace, still in search of a fifth goal. After Vetlesen's attempt hit the post, Nilsson's rebound went wide. It was finally Cisse Sandra who pulled the trigger. His hard shot deflected ever so slightly and whizzed past goalkeeper Cooman. The visitors now were truly against the canvas, but still managed two chances as a deviated shot by Van den Eeckhout went wide and a header by Favoreel flew over.
The hosts retained their strangle hold, resulting in a few more chances: a shot by Nilsson hit the outside of the post, while Tresoldi was only just stopped after a long effort. The final say was for Cisse Sandra, slotting in the 6-1 after a nice through-ball by Vetlesen. A walk in the park for Club Brugge as the team soldiers on to the Belgian Cup Round of 16.
Croky Cup - Round of 32
Audience: 12,000 - Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Mr. Arne De Beuckelaer
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Hugo Siquet, Jorne Spileers, Brandon Mechele (46' Vince Osuji), Zaid Romero - Cisse Sandra, Hans Vanaken (46' Alejandro Granados), Hugo Vetlesen, - Shandre Campbell (63' Nicolò Tresoldi), Kaye Furo (63' Gustaf Nilsson), Mamadou Diakhon (72' Samuel Gomez Van Hoogen).
Bench: Axl De Corte, Argus Vanden Driessche, Carlos Forbs, Lynnt Audoor and Joaquin Seys.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Eendracht Aalst Lede: Ebbe Cooman - Falko Geenens, Calvin Dekuyper, Ilian Favoreel, Lars Wantens - Simon Lanckman (46' Jari Bauwens, 85' Arthur Rasschaert), Nicolas Van Peteghem (67' Jarne Rosschaert), Mathis Remacle, Emmanuel Nyarko (46' Tim Van den Eeckhout) - Robby Ndefe (73' Jelle Hornick), Joran Triest.
Coach: Sandy Casieris.
Yellow: none
Red: none
Goals: 8' Mechele (1-0), 14' Campbell (2-0), 38' Wantens (owngoal, 3-0), 52' Triest (3-1), 57' Diakhon (4-1), 70' Sandra (5-1), 90' Sandra (6-1).