Brandon Mechele: "Leko can always treat us with an extra day off"
Three goals and a first clean sheet in the Jupiler Pro League under the reign of coach Ivan Leko. The evening could not have gone better for defender Brandon Mechele. "It's always nice to keep the three points at home, especially when it can be done without conceding. We played against a low block and so it was just really good that we scored three goals before halftime. The game was done and dusted."
The second half saw a Bruges team continuing its offensive strategies, encouraged by coach Ivan Leko to move the ball around quickly.
"It is logical that it was a little slower in our ball circulation and in our speed. The pace dropped after halftime, maybe we do better in that respect."
In his 81st consecutive game (!), Brandon did not have to think long when asked what Ivan Leko may treat him with after his birthday. "An extra day off, that would be welcome," the Bredene native smiled.
Aleksandar Stanković: "This 3-0 victory is definitely good for confidence"
"A hugely deserved win," Aleksandar Stanković spoke a few minutes after the final whistle. "We started out well and played with the appropriate mentality to disrupt the Standard block sooner or later. In fact, we played pretty much the perfect match, because we kept our opponents from getting into the game, even after we took a 3-0 lead before halftime. Now don't think that everything was smooth sailing, not at all. Every week we are up against a very closed defense and I understand that it seems like tonight was an easy win, but it certainly wasn't. It's true that even in the second half we still had plenty of chances to increase the score, but unfortunately we didn't succeed.
Nonetheless, I'm glad we were able to keep a clean sheet once again, and that's something we can continue to build on. This 3-0 victory is definitely good for our confidence and so we can look forward with confidence to the next task, which is the derby against Cercle."
Nicolò Tresoldi: "Combinations at training turned out well"
After Romeo Vermant and Christos Tzolis dropped out, Nicolò Tresoldi got his chance up front again, thanking his coach for the confidence with a goal and an excellent game. "I'm always happy when I can help the team. We trained on a lot of combinations this week and it worked out well."
In addition to his goal, the striker also nearly had an assist. "Soon I'm going to have my say with Kyriani Sabbe anyway. Too bad I don't get to chalk up that assist" he joked.
Carlos Forbs: "We were on point from kick-off"
"I think we got a well-deserved win tonight," Carlos Forbs spoke afterwards. "We were on point from kickoff and it came down to not letting Standard get into the game. I thought we were very patient in our build-up, passing the ball around very well. In the end it was just waiting for us to break the deadlock and hope that some holes would start appearing in their defense, and I thought that worked out quite well.
Even in the second half we had chances to further extend the score, but in the end I can live with the 3-0 final win. Of course this victory was much needed to avoid losing touch with the top. From tomorrow onwards we can prepare for next weekend's derby, because I have already heard that only a win against our neighbors can satisfy our supporters."
Ivan Leko: "Players showed a lot of focus and energy"
Ivan Leko was very pleased with his team's performance. "It was a deserved victory. We brought good football, the players showed a lot of focus and energy and put in an excellent performance. Club Brugge-Standard is always a nice fixture and also extra special for me because I also had a great time while at Standard. It is, like Club, a team with a lot of passion. If you can win a match like that, that gives you a boost anyway. We are taking another step forward and will train hard again next week to get better."
Club had a difficult run-up towards the game. "Five players dropped out due to illness, so we had to change everything this morning. As a result, we couldn't train with our expected starting line-up, but the players did a great job. When you are leading 3-0, you know that some laziness can creep in. The first ten minutes after halftime were not that great, but other than that my guys did very well. We still had several chances to win 4 or 5-0. It now comes down to getting a good day's rest tomorrow and focusing on the derby against Cercle as of Tuesday."