The people of Bruges are doing the right thing for the weekend. They now have 42 points after 20 games, 4 more than second-placed Genk. None of the defending champions’ closest pursuers have won this weekend. Bas Dost had scored on his debut at his three previous clubs. His first match with Club Brugge was no exception to the rule. The new Dutch striker from the Gazelles opened the scoring in the 13th minute with an overpowering volley on a cross by Charles De Ketelaere. The Bruges residents then monopolized the ball and spent most of their time running the Trudonnaires and looking for Bas Dost in the box, without creating a real opportunity. It was not until the 35th minute to see Noa Lang double the bet for Philippe Clément’s men. The Trudonnaires had all the trouble in the world to be dangerous and Bruges returned to the locker room with a deserved advantage of two goals.
Peter Maes’ men returned to the field with better intentions and showed themselves to be quickly dangerous, first on a bad exit from Simon Mignolet that Jorge Teixeira could not push to the bottom (48th), then when Duckens Nazon, entered the game at the break, sent a powerful strike right next to the goals. The turning point came a few minutes later when Steve De Ridder miraculously escaped expulsion for a sole on De Ketelaere (50th) and sent a perfect ball on the head of Jonathan Buatu who closed the gap a few minutes later (55th), becoming the first player to score a goal against Club Brugge in the Jupiler Pro League since Makhtar Gueye with Ostend on November 8, 2020.
The Bruges residents, unrecognizable in the second half, were still scared when Nazon, alone against Mignolet but hampered by the return of Clinton Mata, touched the outside of the Bruges post (64 ‘). David Okereke, who entered the break instead of Dost, missed the opportunity to reassure the people of Bruges by losing his face to face with Daniel Schmidt (67th).
And the Blauw in Zwart needed to be reassured, because Chris Dunkin was on the verge of equalizing but Mignolet intervened well (69th). It was not a goal that put the people of Bruges safe but a red card, distributed to Nazon for an elbow on Kossonou in the middle of the game (86th). Philippe Clément’s men managed the end of the match and therefore began the year 2021 with a victory, more complicated than expected.
In the standings, Club Brugge (42 points) took advantage of the joint defeats of Genk, Charleroi, Anderlecht and Antwerp to increase their lead in the Jupiler Pro League while Sint-Truiden is 15th with 20 points.
