After a very tensive match, Club Brugge kept the three points home against Antwerp thanks to a goal of Hans Vanaken at the end. So, after the victory against Lugano, another virtuous victory for the Blues. Coach Ronny Deila was therefore very satisfied.
"It was a very balanced match, very tactical too. Both teams realised the stakes were high. So there were few openings in the first half. That first goal was about the only real chance. Things then ran better in the second half and the 2-0 was closer than the 1-1. We had to start all over again because of that equaliser. It says something about the mental resilience of this group that we still won this match. Hats off to the players, how they believe in themselves and in the team. It is clear that we still have to play much better soccer but you still see fear sometimes. But defensively it is very solid and that is already a good foundation. We now have three more points and have beaten a title rival. Moreover, we also managed to turn the negative trend around. During the previous league matches, things weren't going well at times but today they were. We also built in a bit more defensive security in order to concede less goals."
The Norwegian coach also praised matchwinner Vanaken and both centre-forwards Jutglà and Thiago. "Hans is an incredible player. Everyone obviously knows his qualities. He leads by being calm and intelligent. He has excellent qualities in terms of passing and finishing. I am very grateful to be able to coach such players. Ferran has been injured for a long time and needs time to grow back to his best level. He already knew on Wednesday that he would start today and was well prepared. For Igor, it is still with ups and downs. He still has to learn to cope with the pressure of a top team and needs to get used to a higher level." (SF)