Club Brugge shared the spoils with Union after an intense game. The visitors took the lead against the run of play after a header by Nilsson. Shortly after the break, Igor Thiago deservedly equalized from the spot.
Ronny Deila made only one change after the big win against RWDM: Antonio Nusa replaced Philip Zinckernagel on the left-hand side. Blauw-Zwart was 14 points behind the team from Brussels and obviously did not want to suffer any further damage. Club's last defeat dated back to early November against Union. Meanwhile Alexander Blessin's team was working on an impressive serie. In the past 13 league games, Union only dropped two points to AA Gent.
Club took a running start against the league leaders. A deviation by Vanaken deflected off a defender, Skov Olsen saw his effort fly wide and a low Nusa cross was cleared just in front of Vanaken. The best chance came after ten minutes: a failed shot by De Cuyper fell into the feet of Thiago but the striker was too surprised and stabbed it just wide. A few moments later Meijer's cross just evaded the Brazilian. When Skov Olsen cut the ball back to Vetlesen, the Norwegian midfielder's strike was blocked by a Union defender.
As time went on, the visitors found their footing. Shortly before the half-hour mark, they got close to Mignolet for the first time and that actually resulted in the 0-1: Gustaf Nilsson trumped Mechele in the air and headed in Amoura's cross. Moments later Lapoussin curled the cross wide of the far post. Blauw-Zwart then grabbed Union by the throat again, resulting in a few good chances: a shot by Thiago was blocked by Burgess and shortly after the Brazilian rounded goalkeeper Moris but had gone too far to get his shot on target. A few minutes later Moris had to tip over De Cuyper's inswinging cross.
After the break, Club immediately went searching for equalizer. That yielded results after seven minutes. Vetlesen's mazy run inside the box was stopped when Brugess brought him down. Referee Vergoote resolutely pointed to the spot. Igor Thiago did not hesitate and popped the deserved equalizer past Moris.
The pace of the game dropped a bit and Union was able to put their foot next to Club again. The pacy Amoura was able to beat the offside trap, but he was thwarted by a last-ditch tackle by Meijer. Moments later Nilsson headed in his second of the evening, but it was clear that the ball had crossed the backline prior to the cross. At the other side, Thiago looked to go all the way when he powered through Union's defence, but Brugess was just quick enough to deny him.
The closing stage was very intense with chances at both ends. Mignolet was forced into making a save by Puertas and Machida, while Vanaken sent Jutglà on his way to goal in the dying seconds. The Spaniard was through on goal, but Moris had come off his line and brought down Jutglà outside of the penalty area. A straight red for the goalkeeper, but the opportunity for Club to keep the three points home had gone.
Jupiler Pro League – Matchday 20
Attendance: 29.000 – Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Jasper Vergoote
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Maxim De Cuyper, Jorne Spileers (76’ Ferran Jutglà), Brandon Mechele, Bjorn Meijer (68’ Denis Odoi) – Hugo Vetlesen, Raphael Onyedika (86’ Éder Balanta), Hans Vanaken – Andreas Skov Olsen (86’ Philip Zinckernagel), Igor Thiago, Antonio Nusa. Bench: Nordin Jackers, Nick Shinton, Michał Skóraś en Dedryck Boyata. Coach: Ronny Deila.
Union Sint-Gillis: Anthony Moris – Kevin MacAllister, Christian Burgess, Koki Machida – Alessio Castro-Montes, Charles Vanhoutte (81’ Noah Sadiki), Cameron Puertas, Loïc Lapoussin – Gustaf Nilsson (90’ Kevin Rodriguez), Mohamed Amoura (93’ Dennis Eckert Ayensa). Coach: Alexander Blessin.
Yellow cards: Burgess, Vanhoutte, Lazare, Odoi, MacAllister, Spileers, Puertas, Thiago.
Red cards: 95’ Moris.
Goals: 27’ Nilsson (0-1), 56’ Thiago (penalty, 1-1).
