After the meager 4 out of 9, Club Brugge could now also wipe the zero on the move. OH Leuven was no match for the national champion. Hans Vanaken even missed two penalties.No Club Brugge is not dead or sick. The national champion may at most have a cold and Carl Hoefkens can still be the right doctor. The new coach was already under pressure after three matchdays, but his team went all out for Den Dreef and had already won the game before the hour. Peace has already been restored for a while.
After the draw against Zulte Waregem, Carl Hoefkens protected his young defender Otasowie and thought he hadn’t done so badly. In Leuven, however, he put the American on the bench. So the chance for Abakar Sylla to show that he is ready for the big work after his passage at Club NXT. “Because I demand a lot from my defenders and ask them to put high pressure on them, those men have a hard time,” Hoefkens acknowledged in the run-up to the game. However, Sylla was given fifteen minutes to find his way. Club started the offensive with full dedication and the Leuven fanfare was still tuning the instruments or blue-black had already scored. It was a great move by Jutgla and his shot was also fine, but unfortunately deviated for Club via Nielsen, who was offside. So no early 0-1, OHL tried in the switch via Holzhauser but it didn’t really succeed to reach Tamari, Maertens and the two strikers. Next to Nsingi, Hamza Mendyl was suddenly standing in the place of Thorsteinsson, but the Moroccan was initially unable to show much.
Knee prevents crisis
That certainly did not apply to his buddy Nsingi. Club should have taken the lead at that moment, had it not been for Pletinckx’s removal of a Jutgla ball from the line. Vanaken also showed with a shot that Club wanted to quickly put an end to it. But then suddenly the lights went out again for the multiple national champion. Sylla choked in the same way as his predecessor Otasowie last week and Nsingi could only rely on Mignolet. He placed the ball neatly next to the fluorescent yellow Bruges goalkeeper and Den Dreef was immediately ablaze. Everyone was screeching along with the eternal Sweet Caroline, until the VAR abruptly ended the party. Nsingi was offside by half a knee. The people of Bruges breathed a sigh of relief. A knee could therefore prevent the first crisis.
Nielsen missed penalty
What’s more, Club realized that it had to respond and received full cooperation from OHL. Brys wants his team to play football again and again and that deserves respect, but the result is not always good. Malinov just gave the ball as a gift and Nielsen immediately punished the blunder. In the meantime, Hoefkens also had to get Skov Olsen to the side so that Noa Lang came on the field earlier than expected on his trusted left side. On the other side, Sowah was playing good football against his former team on familiar ground. His start at Club was dramatic and the transfer fee of 9 million euros hung like a millstone around his neck. He was also unable to continue at AZ, but he already showed good things against Zulte Waregem last week and he confirmed on Sunday evening in Leuven. It already clicks between Sowah and Jutgla and the Spaniard finished off the Ghanaian’s assist nicely.
Vanaken misses a penalty, Not long
It must have pleased Carl Hoefkens. Icon of Club or not, Hoefkens also knows that he is under pressure and Jan Ceulemans, for example, skewed many more chapters in the blue-black history, but was also quickly victimized as a trainer of Club. Marc Brys had more work at half time. He kept Holzhauser inside and for debutant Mendyl it was also over after 45 minutes. Thibault Vlietinck made the definitive switch from Club to OHL last week and was allowed to come in, just like Thorsteinsson. Then some windfall is needed to try to rectify the imbalance, but that was not for the Leicester satellite team. Tamari’s free kick landed on the crossbar and he was doubly unlucky when he improved his defensive work and took Lang in the box. Penalty kick and Vanaken missed but the Romanian goalkeeper Valentin Cojacaru had left too early. Violent protest at OHL but Club was allowed to try again. It remains strange that a new man is allowed to do the job, but the rules are that flexible and Noa Lang didn’t give Cojacaru a chance, even though the Romanian chose the right angle. Less than an hour away and already 0-3. At OHL they didn’t let it get to their heart and actually started the mexican wave.
Club Brugge made some changes and finished the match calmly. No, the national champion is not ill, at most maybe a cold. But who isn’t now that the air conditioners are working overtime. So Club better not be written off yet and candidates to push Carl Hoefkens from his chair are also quite a bit of a squeeze. The transfer market is still open enough to attract two central defenders, a defensive midfielder and preferably also a striker. Pending their arrival, there is still enough material to limit the damage. By September, Hoefkens and his new staff will also have some extra days on the counter and they can really start. And at the same time also prove that Verhaeghe and Mannaert have also correctly estimated this operation. The only downside of the hot evening in Leuven was that Hans Vanaken was allowed to take a second penalty, but that was also saved by Cojacaru who left on time.
OH Leuven: Cojocaru; Ouedraogo, Pletinckx, Patris (84′ Gamboa); Tamari, Malinov (84′ Dom), Maertens, Holzhauser (46′ Thorsteinsson), De Norre; Mendyl (46′ Vlietinck), Base
Club Brugge: Mignolet; Mata, Mechele, Sylla; Odoi, Nielsen (73′ Lynnt Audoor), Skov Olsen (41′ Tall), Vanaken, Meijer; Hutgla (73′ Larin), Sowah (90′ Sandra)
Goals:34′ Nielsen (no assist) 0-1, 43′ Jutgla (Sowah) 0-2, 53′ Lang (penalty kick) 0-3
Yellow cards: 19′ Nielsen (fault), 47′ Odoi (fault), 53′ Ouedraogo (protest)
Red cards: /
Referee: Lothar D’Hondt
