So much better and yet nothing in hand: Club Brugge wins the first leg against Union in the Croky Cup semi-final, but is disappointed after a late goal

So much better and yet nothing in hand: Club Brugge wins the first leg against Union in the Croky Cup semi-final, but is disappointed after a late goal

Club should have been in the cup final with one and a half legs. Until it conceded another goal. 2-0 or 2-1 against Union: a world of difference.

Then Ferran Jutglà on the left and not the expected Michal Skoras. At Union, Machida – remember that name – was left out of the team. The ways of coaches are at times unfathomable.

But, and we are not afraid to admit it, Ronny Deila immediately seemed to be right. Wonderful combination of Jutglà with Vanaken, after which the Spaniard served Skov Olsen perfectly. That left Moris without a chance with his left. 1-0 after about ten minutes of football.

Bluvn goan, is one of Club’s slogans. Blue-black should have done it: it was Union’s better, but the brakes were on. A tap here, a violation there, a change of flank there: it was rippling.

On the sidelines, Deila was at times busy gesturing that things had to move forward. We have been talking to the Norwegian every week for a few months now. Deila will sometimes opt for a conservative approach, such as in that final quarter on the Bosuil, but he is by no means in favor of crawling backwards. That leads nowhere.

Skov Olsen’s left was once again invaluable for Club.

Photo: BELGIAN

It effectively led nowhere. Club retained control in the first half, but no more than that. In fact, you invite the opponent to come. That didn’t happen, simply because Union was mediocre.

For outsiders, the break is a mysterious quarter of an hour during a match. It’s speculation. Was the coach angry? Did a player chase a bottle of water across the room? Was the emphasis mainly on “continue to do so”? We don’t know, but what we do know is that what Deila said had an effect.

Forty seconds after Club had come out of the dressing room, Skov Olsen set up a dribble into the box. His right-handed cross reached Jutglà, who beat Moris with a header: 2-0. Bluvn goanit pays off, doesn’t it?

So much better and yet nothing in hand: Club Brugge wins the first leg against Union in the Croky Cup semi-final, but is disappointed after a late goal

Photo: BELGIAN

It was a huge burden on Jutglà’s shoulders, a boy who has had difficult months due to all kinds of ailments. Before the World Cup he was still in the Spain pre-selection, now he had to passively watch how Thiago had taken his place. In any case, this goal did Jutglà a lot of good.

Hugging Thiago

What was nice to see was how Thiago just missed hugging Jutglà to death. The Brazilian was happy that his competitor had scored. Thiago is particularly liked at Basecamp, and this appears not to be based on appearances. Good kid.

Union was not at the appointment. Although a colleague had told us that he expected a difficult evening for the people of Brussels because it “cannot last”, but we have been saying that for three years now. However, Union disappointed – both in terms of football and intensity. It was lame.

So much better and yet nothing in hand: Club Brugge wins the first leg against Union in the Croky Cup semi-final, but is disappointed after a late goal

Photo: BELGIAN

Alexander Blessin tried to turn things around with a triple substitution. Deila sighed with relief that he didn’t have to do that, because the rinse on the couch was thin due to all the injuries. There was Skoras, Sabbe and Boyata possibly, after that it was already a return to Homma or Barbera.

Deila’s choices are the right ones

There was a lot of discussion in advance about the choices Deila had to make. The man did what he is handsomely paid to do: draft the right players. Odoi and Balanta have flaws, but this time they mainly showed their qualities. Jutglà was also decisive.

As the minutes progressed, Club remained the best team. Vanaken claimed a penalty after contact with Vanhoutte. Van Driessche did not whistle, the VAR also thought it was too little. We don’t really want to talk about it (again), but yes, the ball could have been on the spot.

Just like Club was in its entirety. It’s a pity about that last half hour of the first half – more attacking spirit would have been welcome – but otherwise the blue and black collectively recovered after two disappointing results.

It looked to be a perfect evening – Club was much better and looked set to reward themselves with a reassuring bonus. Until the speaker suddenly indicated that there would be five minutes of extra time. It gave Union hope. It wouldn’t, would it?

Skoras committed a stupid foul on the sideline. The ball ended up in the suit. Machida managed to make it 2-1 from the mix. Club conceded yet another expensive goal. The third time in one week. Not normal.

Suddenly, almost everything can be done again on February 28. Union looked dead. It is now alive again. Club will have to be at its best in the return.

So much better and yet nothing in hand: Club Brugge wins the first leg against Union in the Croky Cup semi-final, but is disappointed after a late goal

Foto: Isosport

Club Brugge: Mignolet, Odoi, Spileers, Mechele, Meijer, Balanta, Nielsen, Vanaken, Skov Olsen (82′ Skoras), Jutgla (88′ Homma), Thiago

Union: Moris, Mac Allister, Burgess, Sykes, Castro-Montes (57′ Terho), Vanhoutte, Sadiki (57′ Rasmussen), Puertas, Lapoussin (57′ Machida), Nilsson, Amoura

Goals: 10′ Skov Olsen (Jutgla, 1-0), 46′ Jutgla (Skov Olsen, 2-0), 90+3′ Machida (2-1)

Yellow cards: 30′ Mechele (error), 31′ Lapoussin (error), 36′ Spileers (error), 67′ Amoura (error), 67′ Skov Olsen (protest), 78′ Odoi (error), 90+3′ Burgess

Red cards: no

Referee: Bram Van Driessche

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