Sealing off the regular league, Club made its way to STVV, only to see an early Jutglà opener erased in the second half through Zahiroleslam and a late cracker by Koita.
An all-important home win made sure Club Brugge made it to the UEFA Europa Conference League Round of 8 on Thursday. No just cause for coach Deila to reshuffle his team, only for De Cuyper (suspended) and Skov Olsen (groin injury) to be replaced by Sabbe and Skóraś.
An excruciating start for Club resulted in early threats through a fine cross by Vetlesen and an Onyedika attempt, but goalkeeper Suzuki was not called upon in both occasions. He was a bit later, if only to fish the ball out of his nets. Onyedika with the great interception to put Jutglà through on goal, and the Catalan making his way through the centre to fire in the early opener. Soon after, however, Club conceded a blow in the injury of Mignolet, replaced by Jackers just a handful of minutes into the game. Club kept dominating the game, however, and a nifty combination on the left wing again set up Sabbe in front of goal allowed the time and space to aim for the far corner, but Ogawa came rushing in, blocking the shot just in time to keep the hosts from further damage.
In a one direction game, Skóraś tried his luck on a cleared ball, but his shot was pawed over by an industrious Suzuki. Thirty minutes into the game, Ordóñez also came close to doubling the lead, but he could not get a solid touch to a ball in a corner kick scrimmage. A first true test to the visiting defense came after 38 minutes, as Koita put Zahiroleslam through on goal, but Jackers proved the better of the striker's effort. Moments later, Skóraś produced an excellent cross to find Vanaken by the far post, but the well-aimed ball got stuck under Suzuki. The hosts had gotten their act together, and Ito had two more chances, first firing over from just outside the box, and then trying his luck from onger range, but unable to rattle Jackers' cage. More long range efforts by Koita and Steuckers proved unfruitful. The final word was for Club, but Jutglà was unable to put enough force on his header to truly unsettle Suzuki.
No new names in the two teams, but this time it was the hosts that dictated the game. A free kick ended up with Steuckers, who had the time and the space to try his luck, but he saw his shot blocked. Moments later, Ordóñez allowed Zahiroleslam to take possession and go for Jackers, but the striker took too much time, and Club's goalie beat him to the ball. A narrow escape for Club which could have sounded the alarm bells, but to no avail: Steuckers with the ball wide to Ogawa producing the perfect cross towards Zahiroleslam to make it all to play for. Bringing on Nusa and Nielsen, coach Deila tried to jumpstart his team, which almost immediately resulted in a solid chance for Nielsen: Vanaken finding Nielsen in the back of the STVV defense, but the Japanese goalie had a fine foot save in store upon Nielsen's neat effort, only to follow up with another excellent intervention as Nusa tried for the far corner with a hard shot.
With the game possibly going either way, chances started following on both sides. Ogawa was unable to upset Jackers from a distance, while Club's reaction through a Thiago header also proved unsuccessful. Ten minutes on the clock, Ordóñez brought down Kaya inside the box, but the resulting penalty kick was hammered against the woodwork by the latter. No reason to despair for the hosts, however, as Koita was offered all the time and space in the world to wonderfully tuck the ball in the back of the nets with another long range strike, this time proving golden.
Six minutes of added time did not bring much comfort to a Club side once again going down in the final stages of a game. A true blow as the team heads for a two week break before playing the Champions' Play-Offs.
Jupiler Pro League – Match Day 30
Audience: 14,600 – Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium
Ref: Kevin Van Damme
Sint-Truidense VV: Zion Suzuki – Rein Van Helden, Matte Smets, Bruno Godeau – Frederic Ananou (74’ Robert-Jan Vanwesemael), Ryotaro Ito (67’ Joel Chima Fujita), Mathias Delorge, Ryoya Ogawa – Jarne Steuckers (88’ Joselpho Barnes), Kahveh Zahiroleslam (74’ Fatih Kaya), Aboubakary Koita (88’ Rihito Yamamoto).
Bench: Jo Coppens, Wolke Janssens, Robert-Jan Vanwesemael, Rihito Yamamoto, Joel Chima Fujita, Olivier Dumont, Fatih Kaya, Joselpho Barnes, Adriano Bertaccini.
Coach: Thorsten Fink.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet (10’ Nordin Jackers) – Kyriani Sabbe (86’ Victor Barberá), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer – Raphael Onyedika, Hugo Vetlesen (60’ Casper Nielsen), Hans Vanaken – Michał Skóraś (86’ Chemsdine Talbi), Igor Thiago, Ferran Jutglà (60’ Antonio Nusa).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Josef Bursik, Jorne Spileers, Dedryck Boyata, Joaquin Seys, Casper Nielsen, Éder Balanta, Antonio Nusa, Chemsdine Talbi, Victor Barberá.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
Yellow: Sabbe
Red: geen.
Goals: 6’ Jutglà (0-1), 59’ Zahiroleslam (1-1), 85’ Koita (2-1)
