The Croky Cup Round of 16 brought Challenger Pro League runners-up Zulte-Waregem to Jan Breydel. With Club in full control during a fiery thirty minute spell, Skov Olsen made sure the score reflected Club's hard work. The second half saw two more Club goals, this time Igor Thiago's name being chanted on both occasions, making it a broad 4-0 win for a Club side breezing its way past Zulte Waregem to the Round of 8!
The heartwarming win against Standard on the weekend had done Club a world of good, and coach Deila opted for some rest for several starters, making way for Odoi, Ordóñez, Meijer, Balanta, Nielsen, Skov Olsen and Skóras. The home crowd highlighted two names in the visiting line-up, getting reacquainted with former Club legends Vossen and Vormer, both starting from kick-off against their former employer.
The opeing stages saw lots of possession for Club, without leading to any clear danger. The first minor threat was even for the visitors, as Traoré proved to eager to finish off a rare defensive error in the Club defense. Club reacted through a Skov Olsen free kick from just outside the box, but the attempt ended up in the eager arms of Van Der Gouw. Just a few minutes later, the crowd rose to its feet a first time: Meijer tried finding Thiago deep, but Tambedou seemed earlier to the ball, but didn't count on the Brazilian forward to still beat him to the ball, producing a great cross to set up Skov Olsen with impeccable timing, firing in Club's opener. And a second goal soon followed: this time Skóras pushing forward and luring the visiting defenders to him, only to find the Danish winger in front of goal, again hammering it in past the visiting goalie: 2-0.
Moments later Skóras appeared by the far post to head it in, but his attempt went just wide. With the hosts not too eager to let go of their prey, a third goal seemed in the making. Another free kick from an interesting spot went to Vanaken this time, but his deflected shot could not be deviated into goal by Thiago. A third goal did follow, however, after a great Skóras-Skov Olsen-Thiago link-up, but it was cancelled out due to off side. With half an hour played, the visitors also pressed their nose against the window: a pullback to Mignolet almost resulted in a goal by Traoré, and a minute later Vossen was found on the right wing, trying his luck from an acute angle, but the ball whizzed just wide of target. The warning bells chimed, and Club pushed the pedal to the metal again, resulting in another fine opportunity for Skóras, but the Pole was unable to get his attempt past Van Der Gouw. The game now going either way, Zulte Waregem also had its chances, among others through Brüls firing a cracker from a distance, but his left footed shot ended up wide.
The same 11 names at kick-off in the second half at Club, but two changes at Zulte Waregem, with Labie and Ciranni coming on for Tambedou and Decostere. No problem for Club, however, and the next opportunity again resulted in a goal. Nielsen was played the ball on the right wing, producing a perfect cross to find Thiago by the far post, heading the ball off Van Der Gouw to make it 3-0. Not exactly taken aback, Zulte Waregem kept luring for that one chance to bring the side back into the game. Vormer had a great chance to bring back tension to the game, but his neat shot slammed off the inside of the post. The Bruges fans would not have begrudged him that goal, chanting “Ruud, Ruud, Ruud,...” as they have done so many times before. Balanta also tried his luck from afar, but his shot from outside the box flew over. Just like in the first half, however, one man added another to his tally in the second half. Thiago helped Club towards an attack from its own half, saw how Club made its way through on the left wing, and was focused enough to sprint all the way from the middle line towards the far post to tap in his second of the night: an excellent effort by the Brazilian.
The game done and dusted, Club now really slowed down, securing the win but also creating some slight chances. Nielsen's cracker, and Vanaken's header were badly aimed however. After another cancelled goal, this time for the visitors, the game grinded to a halt, but five minutes before full time, Club had one more chance to make it an emphatic 5-0: Jutglà was teed up in midfield, making his way past his defender and coming eye-to-eye with Essevee's goalie, but his chipped effort hobbled past the post.
It proved to be the final throes in what turned out to be a broad victory to the Bruges side. Next Thursday we will know who Club will be crossing swords with in the Round of 8!
Croky Cup – Round of 16
Audience: 16,042 – Jan Breydel Stadium
Ref: Lothar D’Hondt
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Denis Odoi, Brandon Mechele (77’ Dedryck Boyata), Joel Ordóñez, Bjorn Meijer – Éder Balanta, Casper Nielsen (77’ Raphael Onyedika), Hans Vanaken (77’ Philip Zinckernagel) - Andreas Skov Olsen, Igor Thiago (62’ Ferran Jutglà), Michal Skóras (62’ Antonio Nusa).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Nick Shinton, Ferran Jutglà, Raphael Onyedika, Tajon Buchanan, Dedryck Boyata, Antonio Nusa, Philip Zinckernagel.
Coach: Ronny Deila.
SV Zulte Waregem: Ennio Van Der Gouw – Robbe Decostere (46’ Alessandro Ciranni), Modou Tambedou (46’ Andres Labie), Lukas Willen, Joel Bagan – Nicolas Rommens, Ruud Vormer, Christian Brüls, Abdoulaye Traoré (59’ Kevor Palumets) – Jelle Vossen (67’ Guindo Mohamed), Matheus Machado (59’ Dylan Demuynck).
Bench: Louis Bostyn, Sef Van Damme, Guindo Mohamed, Alessandro Ciranni, Kevor Palumets, Andres Labie, Yannick Cappelle, Tarik El Boutabie, Dylan Demuynck, Thibaud Sergeant.
Coach: Vincent Euvrard.
Yellow: Tambedou
Red: none
Goals: 16’ Skov Olsen (1-0), 20’ Skov Olsen (2-0), 50’ Thiago (3-0), 58’ Thiago (4-0)