A home win for Club Brugge against reigning champions Union: 1-0. The hosts had trouble finding the right keys to unlock the visitors' sturdy defense, but with fifteen minutes on the clock, Carlos Forbs finally dismantled it with a great strike to claim it for Club.
The team that had suffered CL defeat at Bergamo was changed in two positions, with Bjorn Meijer reclaiming his place at the expense of Kyriani Sabbe, and Romeo Vermant resurfacing as offensive pawn in midfield supporting Tresoldi.
Possession was for the hosts from the very start, and the first threat came as Vanaken lined up for a free kick to see it blocked, with Stanković' rebound going off a defender into corner kick. The first great opportunity came twenty minutes in, as Jackers found Tzolis deep, shaking off Zorgane, but Niang came back just in time to intervene as Tzolis was surging towards goal.
Club remained in charge, but the solid organisation of the visitors gave the team all kinds of head aches. With ten minutes on the clock, the visitors were finally undone: Tzolis finding Forbs after a great combination, but the Portuguese saw his blast blocked by Burgess. A continuous threat to the Union defense, Forbs seemed goalbound a bit later, but was pulled down by Leysen inside the box, and a spot kick was awarded. A VAR intervention followed, however, cancelling out the penalty due to prior off-side.
An excruciating start to the second half followed. Just seconds in, Vermant took it in one go but the ball went just over, and a bit later Forbs again found the goal line to pull it back in an attempt to find Vermant, but a Union defender once again got in the way. Out for blood, Club was pinning Union against its own goal, but the visitors held ground, helped by a magnificent save by Scherpen denying Stanković' free kick as it went for the top corner. Moments later Vermant now tried to find a team mate in front of goal, but again Scherpen intervened well before it was able to get to Tzolis or Seys. A long range shot by Mac Allister was all Union put up against Club's attacking efforts.
The strangle hold was released after some time, and Union started to win that second here and there trying to hold on to that one point. Club kept trying to find that one good opening, and finally found its way through the deadlock: Tresoldi finding Carlos Forbs on the right, and once he got going, there was just no stopping him. A quick shuffle to get to his left foot and one blast later Club was in the lead (1-0). Union now tried restoring the balance, but no more than some long range shots by Rasmussen and Schoofs were not in it, keeping it at 1-0. The win puts Club back on track, reducing the gap with Union to three units.
Jupiler Pro League - Match day 10
Audience: 28,000 - Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Jan Boterberg
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers - Joaquin Seys, Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer - Aleksandar Stanković, Hans Vanaken, Romeo Vermant (66' Mamadou Diakhon) - Carlos Forbs (84' Ludovit Reis, 88' Cisse Sandra), Nicolò Tresoldi, Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Axl De Corte, Zaid Romero, Gustaf Nilsson, Hugo Siquet, Lynnt Audoor, Kyriani Sabbe and Shandre Campbell.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Union Sint-Gillis: Kjell Scherpen - Kevin Mac Allister, Christian Burgess, Fedde Leysen - Anan Khalaili (81' Louis Patris), Kamiel Van de Perre (81' Rob Schoofs), Adem Zorgane, Anouar Aït El Hadj (59' Mathias Rasmussen) , Ousseynou Niang - Kevin Rodriguez (59' Marc Giger) , Raul Alexander Florucz (46' Promise David).
Coach: Sébastien Pocognoli.
Yellow: Mac Allister, Ordóñez, Khalaili, Giger, Tresoldi.
Red: none
Goal: 77' Forbs (1-0).