Swinging Club Brugge completely blows Racing Genk away and gives extra strength to their title ambitions

Club Brugge

KRC Genk

6′ – Goal – Ferran Jutglà (1 – 0)
43′ – Yellow – Toluwalase Emmanuel Arokodare

51′ – Goal – Michal Skóras (2 – 0)
57′ – Goal – Igor Thiago (3 – 0)
60′ – Cont. Anouar Ait El Hajj by Andi Zeqiri
61′ – Cont. Alieu Fadera by Eduard Sobol
61′ – Cont. Zakaria El Ouahdi by Ken Nkuba Tshiend
66′ – Cont. Michal Skóras by Antonio Nusa
67′ – Goal – Maxim De Cuyper (4 – 0)
71′ – Cont. Kyriani Sabbe by Bjorn Meijer
71′ – Cont. Ferran Jutglà by Philip Zinckernagel
71′ – Cont. Toluwalase Emmanuel Arokodare by Christopher Baah
71′ – Cont. Bilal El Khannous by Ibrahima Sory Bangoura
85′ – Cont. Joel Ordóñez by Jorne Spileers
85′ – Cont. Igor Thiago by Shion Homma

Jupiler Pro League – matchday 5 – 24/04/24 – 20:31

time	player	homeTime	homePlayer	score
6′	Ferran Jutgla	6′	Ferran Jutgla	1 – 0
51′	Michal Skóras	51′	Michal Skóras	2 – 0
57′	Igor Thiago	57′	Igor Thiago	3 – 0
67′	Maxim De Cuyper	67′	Maxim De Cuyper	4 – 0

Anyone who wants to become champion will have to go to Club Brugge anyway. Blue-black underlined its excellent form against Racing Genk by winning 4-0. Jutgla scored the opening goal early, after halftime Skoras, Thiago and De Cuyper converted Bruges’ dominance into goals. With Genk we seem to be able to eliminate a title candidate.

Club Brugge – Racing Genk in a nutshell:

Key moment: After a strong start in the first half, Club also opened convincingly in the second half. With two goals in six minutes, one for Skoras and one for Thiago, the home team finally defeated a surprisingly weak Racing Genk.
Man of the match: Michal Skoras made optimal use of the space left by the Genk defense. The Pole was omnipresent, provided the assist for the opening goal and made it 2-0 himself. His match was rewarded with a long applause from the Bruges supporters.
Remarkable: Since January 30 in the home match against KV Kortrijk, it has been that long since Igor Thiago was able to score again. After almost 3 months and 11 games without a goal, the Brazilian striker finally found his way back to goal against Racing Genk.

Dream start for Club, Odoi drops 2-0

Club Brugge against KRC Genk was a confrontation between the two best teams so far in these Champions’ Play-offs. Two clubs that, somewhat to their own surprise, suddenly found themselves fully participating in the title race again.

The top score was spiced up with a goal after just 5 minutes. Skoras was given plenty of space on the right and laid well back to Jutgla. Cuesta was able to save the Catalan’s shot on the line, but Jutgla did hit the mark during the restart.

A dream start for Club, which remained in control afterwards and provided the most threat. Genk was lacking offensively and was sloppy and vulnerable defensively, with an unprecedented amount of space on the flanks. Skoras was able to create danger time and time again, especially on the right.

Only once did it get hot in the Bruges sixteen. Jackers was unable to get the ball under control on a cross from Fadera, but with a quick reflex the goalkeeper was still able to prevent a big chance for Tolu.

The smooth combinations continued to come from Club. With every deep pass it was all hands on deck for Genk. Shortly before half-time, Jutgla almost added an assist to his goal. Odoi was able to make it 2-0 from close range, but headed the giant chance over.

Genk is completely going under

There was no improvement at Genk after the break. On the contrary, the start of the second half became a copy of the first. Face to face with Vandevoordt, Jutgla initially squandered a huge opportunity, but the early 2-0 came anyway. On a cross from De Cuyper, Vanaken headed the ball perfectly to Skoras and he scored in one go.

Five minutes later, Club turned off the lights completely. After almost 3 months without a goal, Thiago found his way back to goal. Nice chest control, nice shot and Vandevoordt was allowed to turn around again.

Genk went completely down, because it did not stop at 3-0. Vandevoordt saved a nice long shot from Vanaken, but ultimately had to surrender a fourth time. On a pass from Jutgla, De Cuyper also scored his goal.

Genk had nothing left of the strong performance against Anderlecht. In the final phase, substitute Zeqiri asserted himself several times, but Jackers kept his net clean. With 13 out of 15, Club remains the only team undefeated in the Champions’ Play-offs and is more in the running for the title than ever.

Vrancken: “Everyone has their feet on the ground again”

Wouter Vrancken emphasized Club’s qualities afterwards, but was not afraid to admit that Genk underperformed. “The work ethic was not there, certainly not in the first half. There was not enough energy in the transition moments,” says the Genk coach.

“It wasn’t good enough for us. When we had the ball, there was too little movement and too little purity to mean anything.”

“The advantage is that there will be a new match soon. Everyone now has their feet on the ground again. Club’s victory is also fully deserved, we should not be shy about that. We must now learn lessons from this and ensure that we can offer more in return for our own audience.”

Also Zakaria El Ouahdi didn’t make excuses. “We were not in the match, but that can happen. We were not ready and had a bad day today. There is another match on Sunday and we will make sure it will be much better. We just have to win in our own stadium. We would rather suffer such a defeat than lose four times in a row.”

Press conference and post-match reactions:

Phase by phase

End

Club Brugge is emerging as a title candidate with an impressive performance. The clash between the two best teams of the Champions’ Play-off never became a real battle. Club was clearly too strong for a surprisingly weak Racing Genk. Jutgla gave Club an early lead and shortly after half-time the home team struck again with a goal from Skoras. As an added bonus, Thiago finally found his way to goal again and De Cuyper completed the Bruges party.

Once again Zeqiri asserts himself in a match that is dragging towards the end. He aims high from close range in one go.

3 – extra time

An extra 3 minutes will be added.

Applause for Thiago

After Skoras, Thiago also receives loud applause from the home supporters. The striker not only scored after almost three months of drought, he also played a very strong match. Homma is his replacement.

Zeqiri aims wide

Free kick taken quickly by Genk. Zeqiri can take a surprising swing, but he cannot frame his shot. Strong intervention from the Swiss, but Genk buys little for it.

Anderlecht remains leader

This big victory will not give Club the leading position in the Champions’ Play-offs, because Anderlecht is also on its way to a three-pointer. The Purple & White lead 3-0 against Cercle Brugge.

Zeqiri tests Jackers

Club takes its foot off the accelerator a bit and Zeqiri can distinguish itself once again. He tries from just outside the box, but Jackers keeps his net clean with a clever gliding dive.

Zeqiri aims over

Then a timid shot from Genk. Zeqiri is sent into the box and is able to take a shot under pressure from Mechele, but his shot sails over.

Genk goes under

It is gradually becoming a humiliation for Racing Genk, Club makes it 4-0! The home team is allowed to combine in peace in the sixteen. Jutgla lays well aside to De Cuyper and with a tight bang he also catches Vandevoordt. After the strong performance against Anderlecht, Genk put on a poor performance here in Bruges.

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