Bruges are far from cured but snatch three freeing points and return to the top 4.
A reaction against Charleroi, Used had to start his meeting better against Zulte Waregem to take advantage of the misstep in Ghent and thus return to the top 4. Thing done in the tenth minute: on a very slippery lawn, Ferran Jutgla wallowed but his shot attempt turned into a lethal cross, deflected by Hans Vanaken vesr Noa Lang, who quietly pushed the ball to the bottom at the far post. The VAR then confirmed the validity of the goal thanks to the legal position of Noa Lang on the deflection of Vanaken.
But as was the case against Anderlecht and Saint-Trond, the people of Bruges fell back after the opener, until they lost the thread of the match. Deprived of Ferran Jutgla, released on injury at the quarter of an hour, the men of Scott Parker were scared until a new fatal defensive error, as often in recent weeks. On a cross from the right, Clinton Mata misses and can’t get away, the rebound benefits Alioune Ndour, quicker for the equalizer (32nd).
Galvanized, Zulte pushed with a free kick from Christian Brüls, well cut at the near post by Jelle Vossen, whose uncrossed header passed just wide of the goal (35th). Personification of this Essevee rage, Alioune Ndour once again moved the Bruges defense to afford a shooting window but Simon Mignolet intervened to ward off the danger (43rd). In the ropes, Bruges could consider themselves happy to return to the locker room with the score of 1-1. However, the Blauw en Zwart struck in the last minute of additional time on a corner well delivered by Bjorn Meijer towards Hans Vanaken in the small rectangle for the 1-2 liberator (45 + 6th).
This late goal was not however to reassure everyone in Bruges: the defense continued to show worrying signs of feverishness. Clinton Mata in particular seemed to miss his pumps by again completely missing a cross: he put the ball directly at the feet of Jelle Vossen whose shot crashed into the post (60th).
Well aware of the feverishness of his defense, Scott Parker took out CLinton Mata and Dedryck Boyata to bring in Brandon Mechele and Abakar Sylla. Directly at the level of his teammates, the latter immediately distinguished himself with a sucidical pass to offer a 3 against 2 for Zulte, not exploited by the locals with a missed cross (76th). Hesitating between holding the score and pushing for the 1-3, Brugge were helped by the direct red card received by borja lopez who sacrifices himself, seeing Noa Lang pass in front of him in depth to present himself against Samy Bossut (86th). Despite the opportunity of the break missed by Andreas Skov Olsen, unfortunate on a 3 against 2, the Bruges snatch a victory with forceps which will do good despite all the hesitation displayed again this evening.
Thanks to this victory, Bruges returns to the top 4 by overtaking Ghent and Standard. For his part, Zulte remains stuck in sixteenth place and still needs to breathe some fresh air at the bottom of the standings.
