A smooth 2-0 victory for Club Brugge at Jan Breydel, as it sent STVV packing in a game seeing goals by Tresoldi and Forbs. On the hour mark, the visitors were reduced to ten after Merlen's red card, but no more goals followed. Thanks to this victory, Club temporarily increased its lead over Union to four units.
Two changes to Ivan Leko's team that had impressed at Anderlecht just one week ago: Nordin Jackers was still out of contention and Simon Mignolet only just back from injury, and so Dani van den Heuvel was allowed to take his place in goal. In midfield, Hugo Vetlesen was out suspensed, and with Raphaël Onyedika out injured, Cisse Sandra was given the nod.
STVV gained confidence last week by beating Union at home and was now out for back-to-back wins against the two title contenders. The Canaries started out smart against Club, with fine combinations during the initial phase. It was Club, however, taking care of the first threat of the game, as a Stanković shot went well over. A few minutes later, however, the crowd at Club cheered a first time, as Mechele launched Seys on the left, the latter laying it back to Tzolis who played it in pefectly to Tresoldi inside the box to neatly curl it in towards far corner (1-0).
The lead gave Club wings, as chance after chance suddenly followed: Kokubo saved shots by Stanković and Forbs, an attempt by Tresoldi was blocked and Vanaken sent a good chance over. Ten minutes before halftime, the visitors were able to counter, but Seys was able to clear a Sebaoui cross just in time. Two more good chances followed for Club, but Kokubo saved Vanaken's and Tzolis' shots.
After the break, the Canaries tried to put up some resistance, but Club quickly regained command, again scoring early on. Tzolis with the interception upon a bad pass played in by STVV's goalie, finding Carlos Forbs in front, easily making it 2-0 for the hosts. Not taken aback, STVV tried to respond, but Van den Heuvel had no problem with a Sabaoui shot. At the other end, Siquet's shot sailed over goal.
STVV continued to take risks at the back and got into more trouble on the hour. Clumsy ball loss lead to Tresoldi seemingly making it 3-0, but the goal was disallowed due to offside, but VAR ruled that Merlen had tackled Stanković from behind just before the off-side position, insisting Vergoote to send Merlen off.
The last half hour turned into a game of cat and mouse with plenty of chances for Club. Tresoldi headed narrowly wide, a shot by Sandra was swept off the line, Kokubo saved attempts by Tresoldi and Vermant, while Forbs just failed to capitalize on a cross. At the other end, Van den Heuvel made a fine save on a shot by Goto. Numerous chances followed in the closing stages as well. A shot by Forbs hit the underside of the crossbar via Pupe's head, while attempts by Vanaken and Siquet fell just short. It remained 2-0 and Club increases its lead over Union to four points, who have a game in hand.
Champions' Play-offs - Matchday 7
Attendance: 28,000 - Jan Breydel Stadium
Referee: Jasper Vergoote
Club Brugge: Dani van den Heuvel - Hugo Siquet, Joel Ordóñez (81' Jorne Spileers), Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys (81' Bjorn Meijer) - Aleksandar Stanković (81' Lynnt Audoor), Cisse Sandra, Hans Vanaken - Carlos Forbs (88' Mamadou Diakhon), Nicolò Tresoldi (73' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Simon Mignolet, Ludovit Reis, Félix Lemaréchal and Gustaf Nilsson.
Coach: Ivan Leko.
Sint-Truiden VV: Leo Kokubo - Taiga Hata (64' Simen Juklerod), Visar Musliu, Shogo Taniguchi (81' Oumar Diouf), Joedrick Pupe - Robert-Jan Vanwesemael, Abdoulaye Sissako (81' Alouis Diriken), Ryotaro Ito (82' Loïc Mbo Soh), Ryan Merlen, Ilias Sebaoui (74' Kaito Matsuzawa) - Keisuke Goto.
Coach: Wouter Vrancken
Yellow: Taniguchi
Red: 63' Merlen.
Goals: 13' Tresoldi (1-0), 52' Forbs (2-0).