Match Day two of the Champions’ Play-Offs took Club Brugge to the Bosuil for the encounter with locals Royal Antwerp FC. Club was off to a scorching start through Ferran Jutglà, before Ardon Jashari doubled the lead on the half-hour mark. Christos Tzolis added a third just before the break to send Blauw-Zwart into half-time with a commanding lead. Antwerp responded in the second half with goals from Janssen and Balikwisha, but Club stood ground to seal an important away win.
Fresh off a convincing 2-0 win against RSC Anderlecht in the opening fixture, Club Brugge head coach Nicky Hayen opted for an unchanged starting XI for the clash with Antwerp. The hosts, meanwhile, made two changes from their loss to Union, with Chery and Doumbia coming in for Bozhinov and Verstraeten.
Antwerp made a lively start, dominating possession in the opening minutes, but without creating any real danger, and it was Club with the first clear chance of the afternoon after five minutes as Tzolis was sent through on goal, unleashing a fierce shot from a tight angle, but Lammens was alert to parry the effort into corner kick. Moments later, Blue & Black earned their pressuring efforts in spades. A poor clearance from Lammens was intercepted, and Tzolis threaded a clever ball into the path of Jutglà, the Spaniard making no mistake, calmly slotting home the opener past the Antwerp keeper.
The home side quickly responded through Janssen, testing Mignolet from a narrow angle but Club's No1 kept it out with a smart save. Both sides threatened again around the 15-minute mark, with Chery and Tzolis both having a stab at goal. Club came close to doubling their lead soon after, as Mechele nodded a cross back across goal to Jutglà, but the striker couldn’t connect cleanly with his first attempt, and his follow-up was straight at Lammens.
A second Club goal followed just before the half-hour, though, as De Cuyper launched Jashari down the left, racing onto it before calmly edging it past Lammens into the far corner. The goal was initially flagged for offside, but VAR overruled the decision and the goal stood.
Antwerp struggled to create chances, while Club continued to look threatening. A low ball across was let through by Mechele, allowing Tzolis a free strike but the Greek fired wide. Soon after, he tested Lammens again, but the shot lacked power. On the stroke of half-time, Club went looking for a third breach, as a well-worked short corner saw De Cuyper play it to Sabbe, whipping in a cross and finding Lammens at fault, but this time Mechele headed over.
But the final word of the first half belonged to Tzolis, who unleashed a strike from the edge of the box, seeing it bounce off an Antwerp defender past a hapless Lammens. A three goal margin for an impressive Club as the two teams headed for the dressing room.
The second period began with a change for Club: Sabbe, feeling some discomfort, was replaced by Siquet. The visitors controlled possession early on, moving the ball calmly and waiting for an opening, with De Cuyper often the final link though his efforts failed to hit target.
Just past the hour mark, Antwerp clawed themselves back into the game as Janssen picked up the ball in midfield, surged forward, and rifled a long-range effort past Mignolet to make it 1-3.
Hayen responded with a double substitution, bringing on Romero and Talbi for Ordóñez and Jutglà. But the momentum had shifted, and in the 70th minute, the tension ramped up again. Club failed to clear their lines inside the box, and the ball fell kindly to Balikwisha, smashing it home from close range to make it a tense 2-3.
The hosts piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser. Deman floated a dangerous ball to the back post, just out of reach for Praet. Moments later, Praet tried his luck from the edge of the area, his curling effort narrowly sailing over Mignolet’s crossbar.
With minutes to play, Antwerp earned a corner. The ball ricocheted off Nielsen’s back, falling into the feet of Janssen, but Mignolet reacted superbly to keep it out. Club nearly sealed it at the other end through a Vanaken header from a corner, but Lammens was equal to it.
Four minutes of added time followed, and Antwerp threw everything forward in search of that equaliser, but Club saw it out with composure!
Jupiler Pro League – Champions’ Play-offs: Match Day 2
Attendance: 16,144 – Bosuil Stadium
Referee: Lothar D’Hondt
R. Antwerp FC: Senne Lammens – Jelle Bataille, Denis Odoi, Zeno Van Den Bosch, Olivier Deman – Jaïro Riedewald (60’ Dennis Praet), Mahamadou Doumbia, Tjarron Chery (82’ Mohamed Bayo) – Gyrano Kerk, Vincent Janssen, Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Bench: Niels Devalckeneer, Dennis Praet, Kadan Young, Mauricio Benítez, Mohamed Bayo, Christopher Scott, Milan Smits, Semm Renders, Andreas Verstraeten.
Coach: Andries Ulderink.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Kyriani Sabbe (46’ Hugo Siquet), Joel Ordóñez (64’ Zaid Romero), Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper – Raphael Onyedika (81’ Casper Nielsen), Ardon Jashari, Hans Vanaken – Christos Tzolis, Gustaf Nilsson (81’ Romeo Vermant), Ferran Jutglà (64’ Chemsdine Talbi).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Axl De Corte, Zaid Romero, Hugo Siquet, Jorne Spileers, Lynnt Audoor, Hugo Vetlesen, Casper Nielsen, Michał Skóraś, Romeo Vermant, Chemsdine Talbi.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow: Siquet, Balikwisha, Vermant, Deman
Red: none
Goals: 9’ Jutglà (0-1), 29’ Jashari (0-2), 45+3’ Tzolis (0-3), 63’ Janssen (1-3), 71’ Balikwisha (2-3)
