On Match Day 16 of the Jupiler Pro League, Jan Breydel Stadium hosted the always fraught game between Club Brugge and Antwerp FC. A dominant Club side failed to score in the first half, and unfortunately, that didn't happen in the second half either. By the end of the match Club even got the lid on the nose after a Benítez goal making it the perfect hold-up for the visitors.
Having faced Sporting CP in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, coach Nicky Hayen decided to make some changes to his starting line-up. In goal this was a forced change, as Jackers suffered a rib injury and so we got the return of Mignolet under the bar. At right back, Spileers was given the nod this time and so Siquet had to make peace with a place on the bench. The same went for Stanković, as Vermant formed midfield together with Vanaken and Onyedika, allowing Tresoldi to start with Forbs and Tzolis alongside him.
Club claimed the ball in the opening stages, but that did not immediately result in real threats. Five minutes into the game, it was Antwerp that provided the first small threat, but Somers' header into the sixteen posed no problem for Mignolet. The home side's reaction followed almost immediately when Vanaken stabbed the ball deep for Forbs. The Portuguese winger also put the leather sharply in front of goal, but Kouyaté came just in time to intervene before Tresoldi could get a touch. A little after the quarter-hour mark, the visitors showed themselves once more through an action by Adekami, putting the ball low in front of goal to find Somers at the first post. Fortunately, the latter deviated the leather just wide of target. Shortly after, that same Somers was even closer, but his header rattled the crossbar. Almost immediately after, Adekami also took his chance from the edge of the penalty area, but fortunately his shot was straight at Mignolet. The game was now more in balance, with Club also trying to lure. First Tresoldi failed to frame his header and moments later Vermant, after a nice combination with Vanaken, could not put enough power on his goal attempt.
Just about halfway through the first half, Tzolis received the ball on the right flank and the Greek winger put the leather sharply in front of goal. There Tresoldi dove to get his head to the ball, but he was just sufficiently impeded by Kouyaté. Club now became increasingly threatening, but were a bit unlucky with their finishing. Spileers poked the ball nicely deep for Tzolis, who in turn laid off perfectly for the infiltrating Vermant. Kouyaté, however, smashed into the path of the shot, preventing worse. The next dangerous moment was not long in coming, but both Tresoldi (header on Nozawa) and Tzolis (shot blocked by Kouyaté) were also unsuccessful. A little past the half-hour mark, the ball was once again pumped into the sixteen and there Tresoldi first plucked the ball beautifully out of the air, but then decided a little too hastily and wildly across goal. Club kept trying, but time and again luck in finishing was lacking. Seys also took a stab at it with a dropped ball, but again an Antwerp player stood in the way. A goalless score accompanied the players towards the dressing room at half-time.
One change to the Bruges side at half time, as Mignolet stayed inside to offer van den Heuvel his chance under the crossbar. The hosts started the second half with a lot of drive, soon resulting in a good opportunity for Vermant. Forbs pushed forward well and played it wide at the right moment for the young Club striker. Half while sliding he was able to kick towards goal, but the attempt was a little too central and so Nozawa was able to save. Moments later, Vanaken was found through a great cross, but the captain's header was just not hard enough and Antwerp's goalie was able to dive well to neutralise the effort. Soon after, Ordóñez was also able to put his head against the ball on a corner kick, but this time it went a meter wide of goal. A little after the hour there was a brief reaction from the visitors, but 'The Great Old' did not get further than a harmless header from substitute Vandeplas. Club came much closer shortly after: first, a blast from Onyedika from outside the box was deflected into corner by Kouyaté. On this corner, Vanaken was able to head nicely to the far corner, but Nozawa had a great stretching save in store, deflecting it towards Mechele, but from close range the Bruges defender unfortunately hit the side netting.
Opportunities kept coming, however, and moments later Forbs was able to unleash. At speed, he found the back line and then laid back towards an infiltrating Onyedika. However, the Nigerian midfielder's attempt was once again blocked by an Antwerp defender. A few minutes later, there was full disbelief at Jan Breydel Stadium when VAR called ref D'Hondt to the screen after hand play by Onyedika. A spot kick was awarded, but van den Heuvel proved the better of Adekami's penalty. Nicky Hayen decided to make a quadruple change in order to get the win. Substitute Siquet immediately tried to show himself with a distance shot, but this posed no problem for Nozawa. Shortly before the end of regular playing time, Antwerp pushed Club where it hurt. Hamdaoui, just on, was able to push through in the box, pulling back to find Benítez at the right moment, and the latter did not faulter as he put it past van den Heuvel.
Nine minutes of extra time were counted, and in it Campbell tried his luck, but his shot from a difficult angle went well wide. A few minutes later Nozawa also had to intervene on a corner kick by Tzolis to prevent an Olympic goal. No more goals followed, leaving Club empty-handed.
Jupiler Pro League - Matchday 16
Audience: 29,042 - Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Lothar D'Hondt
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet (46' Dani van den Heuvel) - Jorne Spileers (82' Hugo Siquet), Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys - Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken, Romeo Vermant (82' Aleksandar Stanković) - Carlos Forbs (82' Shandre Campbell), Nicolò Tresoldi (82' Kaye Furo), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Axl De Corte, Hugo Siquet, Vince Osuji, Cisse Sandra, Hugo Vetlesen, Aleksandar Stanković, Shandre Campbell, Gustaf Nilsson, Kaye Furo.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
R Antwerp FC: Taishi Brandon Nozawa - Zeno Van Den Bosch, Kiki Kouyaté, Yuto Tsunashima - Thibo Somers, Mauricio Benítez, Dennis Praet, Farouck Adekami (86' Youssef Hamdaoui) - Christopher Scott (75' Xander Dierckx), Gyrano Kerk (62' Gerard Vandeplas), Marwan Al-Sahafi (75' Isaac Babadi).
Bank: Yannick Thoelen, Kobe Corbanie, Isaac Babadi, Anthony Valencia, Semm Renders, Glenn Bijl, Rosen Bozhinov, Youssef Hamdaoui, Xander Dierckx, Gerard Vandeplas.
Coach: Faris Haroun (interim).
Yellow: Benítez, Kouyaté, Nozawa
Red: none
Goal: 88' Benítez (0-1)