A heartwarming win for Club at the expense of KRC Genk. We had a talk with antagonists Jackers, Odoi, De Cuyper and coach Deila.
Nordin Jackers: “Was able to help the team“
None other than the team where he learned the tricks of the trade was the maiden game for Jackers at Club Brugge. The Limburg goalie pulled his weight and had a fair share in the team's 0-3 away win.
“This was a long time in the making, that's right, but I opted for that second goalie spot at Club Brugge myself, so there's no need to start wingeing about that. In all fairness: I feel great at Bruges, there's mutual respect between Simon and me, which pushes us on. We are competitors, but in the end we're also each other's first supporters. I reckon I can be happy with my game today, particularly in the dire circumstances the team has been in, helping them out with two crucial saves. But it's not like I single-handedly won this game. I don't believe this was the most exiciting of games; both teams had too large an interest in it. We started out well, and after our opener, the home team tried to put pressure, but they never really got to creating big chances. Whether I'm off now? It's too early days for that. But there's no denying that this leaves me longing for more. We'll see what the future has in store for us.” (MV)
Denis Odoi: "Three crucial points"
A turbulent week for Club Brugge ended with a game at the Genk Cegeka Arena. Celebrating his goal with a somersault, Denis Odoi was all beams afterwards. “I can still do it at the age of 35, don't I? We really needed this win as a team. It wasn't all that easy on the eye, but that's not what matters most right now, it's the three points that counted. Whether I'm cherry picking my moments to score? Not really, but as I'm not the tallest of players, I have to go for it with perfect timing and get to that ball with a lot of agression. And that header neatly went in over the goalkeeper. My goal came with perfect timing, as we had been under a good deal of pressure at that point, losing grip of the game. Thanks to the changes made by the coach, our gameplan panned out.”
When asked whether an elbow plant prior to that goal could have merited a red card, Odoi indicated: “There's bound to be some contact in textbook situations from both sides, but in all fairness I never felt like I hit somebody. And even if that was the case, it would not have been intentional. Both the ref and VAR did not intervene, so I reckon not a lot will have happened.” (MV)
Maxim De Cuyper: "Feels great!"
An all-important game for Club at Genk, seeing Maxim De Cuyper return in his favoured left back position. A 0-3 win at Racing Genk clearly brought a smile to the young chap's face.
“I hope we are now certain of the Champion's Play-offs after this win. The results of both Cercle and Gent worked in our favour (both defeated, edit), and we knew a fine result today would do a world of good in view of the Champion's Play-offs. The team saw some changes for all sorts of reasons, but I have no opinion on that. We just need to accept them, whether we agree or not, but it all panned out well today, and it feels so good. I'm thrilled with my seventh assist of the season, but right now it's not top of mind with me. I repeat that this 0-3 win on the pitch of our direct opponents Racing Genk feels terrific, particularly after what has befallen upon us in the last two games. Those defeats, and the critique that came with it hurt us, both the coach and the players, but we have now shown that we are strong as a team, and that's a fact that shouldn't be underestimated.” (FDC)
Ronny Deila: "So proud of the boys and the staff"
Coach Deila has been weathering the strom these past few weeks, and was clearly thrilled after the solid win at Genk.
"I'm very proud with how the boys and the staff handled the uncomfortable situation we have been in in the past couple of weeks. There's just so much pressure, and it takes a lot of energy to keep performing well and to win. It's not all that evident to keep handling those situations. A 0-3 win here may be a bit too rash, but maybe we had the luck we missed out on in previous games. We fought for one another, and I want to highlight that Nordin (Jackers) also put in a massive performance. We were seeing stars in the opening fifteen minutes in the second half. We were more in control after we made those changes. We now need to look ahead, as there's still so much in store."
The coach also reflected on taking off Jutglà. "Ferran was tired, as he's been in the Starting XI for four games on end. We also needed to regain control of midfield. You can line up as many offensive players as you want, but you still need to defend. When you lose control of the game, it's just a matter of time before something's bound to happen. I do the changes I deem necessary, and after that we scored two more", a resilient Club coach concluded. (TM)