Club Brugge secured a 1-2 victory away at Westerlo. Tzolis gave Blauw-Zwart an early lead and Tresoldi doubled the advantage shortly before the break. Kimura pulled one back for the hosts, but Club held on to take all three points.
Ivan Leko was forced into one change compared to last week’s clash with Anderlecht. Brandon Mechele was not fully fit due to illness and Jorne Spileers replaced him in the heart of the defence. The reverse fixture had ended in a chaotic 5-5 draw and Westerlo showed from the opening minute they intended to make life difficult for the visitors again. The hosts started brightly, but Brugge struck ruthlessly after five minutes. A long-range effort from Haspolat was blocked following a corner and the ball quickly broke the other way. Forbs released Tzolis on the wing, who raced clear on goal. The Greek forward rounded Jungdal before finishing it off via the underside of the crossbar.
Westerlo tried to respond. Mignolet dealt with a shot from Piedfort, while two attempts from Sakamoto came to nothing. At the other end, efforts from Stanković and Forbs were blocked and Spileers was also denied, though the flag was already up. The home side’s best opportunity arrived on the half hour when Alcocer produced a fine strike, but Mignolet pulled off an excellent save.
Club looked to control the contest and struck again ten minutes before the interval. Tresoldi expertly brought down a pass from Sabbe and finished to make it 0-2. It was the German striker’s twelfth league goal of the season and his first away from Jan Breydel. Westerlo attempted to claw themselves back into the game before the halft-time whistle, but could only muster a corner that drifted harmlessly through the box.
Hans Vanaken picked up a groin injury just before that whistle and stayed in the dressing room, with Hugo Vetlesen introduced in his place. Westerlo pushed for a way back after the restart and created several half-chances. Sakamoto curled narrowly over, Bayram saw a deflected effort drift wide and another attempt from Sakamoto was blocked. The pressure eventually resulted in a goal for the home side with almost half an hour to play, when Kimura headed home from a corner.
Westerlo pushed for an equaliser, but Club nearly sealed the result with fifteen minutes remaining. Tresoldi guided a Meijer cross towards goal, only for Jungdal to produce a fine save. Sabbe’s rebound struck the side-netting. The hosts threw everything forward in the closing stages. A fierce strike from Haspolat flew just over the bar and Mignolet produced a superb reflex save to deny Bayram’s header.
The score remained 1-2, keeping the gap to leaders Union at three points.
Jupiler Pro League - Matchday 29
Spectators: 8,000 - Het Kuipje
Referee: Bram Van Driessche
KVC Westerlo: Andreas Jungdal - Bryan Reynolds, Emin Bayram, Roman Neustädter (85' Naoufal Bohamdi-Kamoni), Seiji Kimura - Arthur Piedfort, Dogucan Haspolat, Isa Sakamoto - Shunsuke Saito (77' Thomas Van den Keybus), Nacho Ferri (85' Afonso Patrao), Josimar Alcocer. Coach: Issame Charai.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Kyriani Sabbe, Joel Ordóñez, Jorne Spileers, Joaquin Seys (73' Bjorn Meijer) - Aleksandar Stanković, Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken (46' Hugo Vetlesen) - Carlos Forbs (73' Romeo Vermant), Nicolò Tresoldi (82' Gustaf Nilsson), Christos Tzolis. Bank: Nordin Jackers, Hugo Siquet, Brandon Mechele, Félix Lemaréchal, Mamadou Diakhon and Gustaf Nilsson. Coach: Ivan Leko.
Yellow cards: Piedfort, Spileers, Nilsson.
Red cards: none
Goals: 6' Tzolis (0-1), 35' Tresoldi (0-2), 64' Kimura (1-2).