Dominant Blue and Black stuck at 0-0 at Westerlo | OneFootball

On Match Day 33 of the Jupiler Pro League, Club Brugge headed for 't Kuipje for a tricky meeting with local KVC Westerlo. A dominant Club had the better of the game, but did not see that reflected on the score board. The point loss means Club now hopes AA Gent will do worse in its remaining two games.

No reasons to make any changes to the team behind last week's home win against Seraing (2-0), except for one: Nielsen was out injured (just like Buchanan), and was replaced in midfield by Skov Olsen, making his return to the Starting XI after a period of injury woes. The home side had two former Club players in its ranks, with De Cuyper and Van Den Keybus.

Club had no other option than to win this game in order to put pressure on Gent for that fourth spot in the league, and started out with lots of possession, heading for Bolat's goal from minute 1. The visitors encircled the Westerlo goal mound early in te game, but both Jutglà and Rits were unable to put enough power in their attempts to really unsettle the Westerlo goalie. The first quarter of the game saw some fine combination play on the Westerlo half, but without some clear danger. 20 minutes into the game, Lang produced a fine corner kick to find Vanaken, but his header was to central to beat Bolat. The chances now started coming, with a fine infiltration by Rits, who tried his luck surprising Bolat by the first post, but the keeper reacted with an alert foot shuffle, also denying Club on some more attempts in the ensuing minutes.

Another double save from Bolat followed, as Lang made his way past two defenders and fired without success, and Jutglà also unable to get past Bolat in the rebound. The corner kick that followed ended up with Onyedika, but he also met with the eager hands of the home goalie. A first home threat came after the half hour mark: Van Eenoo made the most of the time and space he was offered and tried his luck from afar, but his shot sailed over. A few minutes later on, Vaesen saw his short range attempt blocked by Mechele. The corner kick that followed came to Neustädter, unable to make the most of the waning chance. The chance to open the score, however, came to Jutglà, eye-to-eye with Bolat, but the Spanish striker aimed his effort just wide of target. After an intense first half, the two teams headed for the dressing room with a goalless 0-0...

The same 22 names kicked off the second half, which soon turned out to be a mirror image of the first, with lots of forward pressure by the visitors. Lang managed to reach the goal line and then found Vanaken, unable to frame his shot. Five minutes later, another Lang corner kick met with the head of Spileers, but the header ended up on the top of the goal, and a few minutes later that same Spileers was offered another good chance, this time seeing his effort from a Skov Olsen free kick denied by Bolat with a last-second reflex. The home goalie in fine spirits clearly, Bolat again saved the day as Lang challenged him again without success, and denied Skov Olsen. Chances kept coming in for Club, but without any goals. It finally seemed to happen as Jutglà finally put a shot past Bolat, but this time he was backed by De Cuyper to deny Club from the goal line.

The storm now abated, so it was time to bring on some fresh blood, seeing among others Nusa and Vermant man the pitch. The latter soon made some wriggle room for himself and fired at goal, but unfortunately the ball ended up in the side netting. The young striker had another chance to finally break the deadlock for Club, set up by Nusa, but he was unable to put in a fine shot, allowing Bolat to once again save the day.

A last effort by Meijer was also unable to unsettle Bolat, keeping a disappointed Blue & Black stuck at 0-0. More was in it, but Club now has to hope AA Gent does not widen the gap for fourth place.

Jupiler Pro League – Match Day 33 Audience: 8,035 – Het Kuipje Ref: Mr. Lothar D’Hondt KVC Westerlo: Sinan Bolat – Bryan Reynolds, Roman Neustädter, Ravil Tagir, Maxim De Cuyper – Mathias Fixelles (72’ Igor Vetokele), Lukas Van Eenoo, Nacer Chadli (64’ Tuur Dierckx) - Thomas Van Den Keybus, Yusuke Matsuo (90’ Pietro Perdichizzi), Kyan Vaesen (64’ Nicolas Madsen). Bench: Nick Gillekens, Pietro Perdichizzi, Nicolas Madsen, Muhammed Gümüskaya, Rubin Seigers, Igor Vetokele, Edisson Jordanov, Tuur Dierckx. Coach: Jonas De Roeck. Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet –  Clinton Mata, Brandon Mechele, Jorne Spileers – Andreas Skov Olsen (59’ Antonio Nusa), Mats Rits, Raphael Onyedika, Hans Vanaken, Bjorn Meijer – Noa Lang, Ferran Jutglà (75’ Romeo Vermant). Bench: Nick Shinton, Senne Lammens, Kyriani Sabbe, Denis Odoi, Cisse Sandra, Antonio Nusa, Roman Yaremchuk, Romeo Vermant. Coach: Rik De Mil.

Yellow: Vaesen, Mechele, Fixelles, Dierck, Mata, Van Eenoo Red: none Goals: none