Club Brugge KV claimed a statement 4–2 victory over RSC Anderlecht in the Jupiler Pro League Championship Round on matchday 31, riding a blistering first-half performance and a late clincher in stoppage time.
The hosts raced into control early. On 15 minutes, Kyriani Sabbe opened the scoring for Club Brugge, finishing after good work from Joaquin Seys. The lead was doubled in the 29th minute when Aleksandar Stankovic struck, with Christos Tzolis providing the assist.
Club Brugge’s dominance continued eight minutes later. Tzolis turned scorer in the 37th minute, making it 3–0 after being set up by Nicolo Tresoldi, giving the home side a commanding advantage heading into the break.
Anderlecht, however, responded after half-time. Thorgan Hazard pulled one back in the 55th minute to give the visitors hope at 3–1. The match grew more physical, with bookings for Stankovic just before the interval, Enric Llansana early in the second half, and Tzolis midway through the second period.
Both coaches turned to their benches as the game wore on, with Mario Stroeykens, Romeo Vermant, Hugo Vetlesen and others entering from the bench in a series of second-half substitutions.
Anderlecht set up a tense finale in stoppage time. In the 90th minute plus one, Mihajlo Cvetković reduced the deficit to 3–2, finishing from a Yari Verschaeren assist as the visitors pushed for an unlikely comeback.
But any hopes of stealing a point were dashed moments later. In the 90th minute plus four, Vermant restored Club Brugge’s two-goal cushion, converting after another decisive contribution from Tzolis to seal a 4–2 win.
Only goal times, scorers, bookings and substitutions have been provided for this match; further detailed statistics, line-ups and post-match reactions are not available from the data source.
For more on the Belgian top flight, visit the Jupiler Pro League page on Ballaxy, or view the full match overview here.
Comments