After the painful defeat in Eupen, Club Brugge again failed to win. Zulte Waregem took a point in Jan Breydel. Andreas Skov Olsen gave the blue-black the lead, Oleksandr Drambajev equalized again. The national champion misses her season start and is left behind with 4 out of 9.
Club Brugge – Zulte Waregem in a nutshell:
- Key moment: The game comes to a halt around the 66th minute with a few substitutions. Club is rocked to sleep and then Zulte Waregem strikes mercilessly. Fadera delivers the perfect cross, Drambajev manages to catch up to the near post and brings Essevee alongside.
- Man of the match: He played for FK Mariupol last season, when the Ukrainian league was shut down by the Russian invasion. Today Oleksander Drambajev is the hero of Zulte Waregem. His fine goal gave the visitors an unexpected point.
- Remarkable: An impressive series of victories against Zulte Waregem comes to an end for Club Brugge. It had won the last six mutual competition matches with flying colors. Club scored no less than 22 times, Zulte Waregem 0 times.
Mignolet claims another leading role
A considerably redesigned Club at the kick-off with no less than 5 substitutions. Lang started in consultation with trainer Hoefkens on the bench and Sobol, Hendry, Balanta and N’Soki who left for Hoffenheim also disappeared from the base. The vacant spots were for Odoi, Meijer, Sowah, Mechele and Otasowie.
The latter didn’t make a great turn in the first half. A bad pass from the American led to a huge opportunity for Dompé after just five minutes. Mignolet was once again the saving angel for the national champion.
Even before the first fifteen minutes was over, Otasowie went wrong again. Fadera snatched the ball from him and offered Dompé another chance at the 0-1, but Mignolet was still in the way. In between, Bossut also had to show his skills when Jutgla appeared alone for him, while a volley from Nielsen stranded in the side net.
Club did not prepare much more, Bossut only had to be alert to a distant bang from Jutgla. Otasowie was by no means alert, with poor ball control he gave Fadera another chance shortly before half-time. However, the Gambian himself did not remain technically flawless, so Mignolet was once again able to intervene.
Drambajev gives Zulte Waregem a point
After an unconvincing first half, Club started very strong after the break. After a wonderful combination with Vanaken and Sowah, Skov Olsen first collided with Bossut, but in the resumption the Dane scored his third of the season: 1-0.
The home side suddenly came under steam. Jutgla put Skov Olsen on his way to the 2-0, but the goalscorer wanted to do it too well with a rabona. Jutgla also brought the other Dane from Bruges, Nielsen, into position with a nice heel, but he aimed for Bossut.
Zulte Waregem thus prevented more damage and suddenly struck mercilessly after a dead moment with a few changes. Fadera brought the ball low in front of goal and Drambajev Mata was too quick there. Mignolet finally had to give in, the signs were level again.
Hoefkens tried to turn the tide by dropping Larin, Lang, Sobol and Vormer into the squad, but Club could no longer play Zulte Waregem out of context. All in all, the visitors held their ground. With away matches at Antwerp and Club, 4 out of 9 is an excellent start to the competition for Essevee, for Club it is a very meager report.
“We knew there was something to gain here”
- Jelle Vossen (Zulte Waregem): “I think everyone who comes to Jan Breydel can be very satisfied with a point. We knew that there was something to be gained here. We already showed against Antwerp last week that we are tapping from a different keg than last season. team that radiates a lot of energy and tries to play football where it can. Last week we went home without points, today it is rewarded with a point. There may have been even more in it, but we can only be satisfied.”
- Sammy Bossut (Zulte Waregem): “We fought until the end to take that point. I think the club has done a good job in terms of transfers. Those guys are not that experienced yet, but they won’t stop at nothing. We have to keep going like this. “I’ve had my job today, but above all we have put in a collective performance. We could also have taken the win here. We have to take this confidence into next week.”
