Summary

Both clubs were missing several key players going into the match, most notably Simon Mignolet, Eduard Sobol, Hans Vanaken and Ruud Vormer for Club Brugge; and Gerardo Arteaga, Carlos Cuesta, Eboue Kouassi, Jhon Lucumí, Daniel Muñoz and Kristian Thorstvedt for Genk. As a result, both managers were forced to experiment.

Despite starting with youngsters Noah Mbamba (16) and Odilon Kossounou (20) in central midfield, Club Brugge started strongly and pinned Genk to its own half, however without creating any chances. It was instead Genk who managed to create some danger first, as Paul Onuachu's diving header, following a cross by Ángelo Preciado, sailed narrowly over the bar. Club Brugge kept controlling the match, but with limited attempts on goal to threaten Genk-goalie Maarten Vandevoordt. Just before halftime, Genk again managed to set up a dangerous attack, with new signing Mike Trésor finding Bryan Heynen whose pass split open the Club Brugge defense to find Théo Bongonda who easily slotted the ball past 19-year old goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Still before half time, Club Brugge managed to equalize as a corner kick was headed in by Matej Mitrović via Vandevoort. Trésor was just late in kicking the ball away as it had already crossed the line.

Club Brugge started the second half in overdrive, knocking out Genk in just a few minutes: Noa Lang was fouled by Preciado in the penalty area and converted the penalty kick himself in absence of Vormer and Vanaken. Immediately thereafter, Clinton Mata extended the lead with a powerful strike which deflected via goalkeeper Vandevoort and the underside of the crossbar into the goal: 3–1. Manager John van den Brom tried to turn the tide using a few substitutions, but could only notice Club Brugge getting stronger and continuing to dominate the match. Mats Rits came close to a fourth for Club Brugge with some 20 minutes to play, but his sneaky freekick hit the outside of the post. Towards the very end of the match, Genk finally was able to create some pressure, with Lammens required to make several strong saves. Eventually, a misunderstanding between Lammens and Mitrović allowed Jere Uronen to score with a blistering strike from about 20 meters, but after that Club Brugge easily held on to win 3–2.^[1]

Details

GK 91 Senne Lammens RB 77 Clinton Mata  88' CB 15 Matej Mitrović CB 44 Brandon Mechele (c) LB 18 Federico Ricca MF 90 Charles De Ketelaere  66' MF 72 Noah Mbamba  77' MF 26 Mats Rits MF 5 Odilon Kossounou CF 10 Noa Lang  49'  85' MF 29 Bas Dost  77' Substitutes: MF 3 Éder Álvarez Balanta  77' FW 21 David Okereke FW 27 Youssouph Mamadou Badji DF 28 Ignace Van Der Brempt  88' FW 30 Daniel Pérez  77' GK 33 Nick Shinton MF 39 Thomas Van den Keybus MF 55 Maxim De Cuyper GK 81 Henri Maton MF 98 Cisse Sandra  85' Manager: Philippe Clement

GK 26 Maarten Vandevoordt RB 77 Ángelo Preciado  64' CB 3 Mujaid Sadick CB 2 Mark McKenzie LB 6 Simen Juklerød MF 8 Bryan Heynen (c)  59' MF 11 Mike Trésor MF 14 Bastien Toma MF 7 Junya Ito  59' FW 18 Paul Onuachu  45' FW 10 Théo Bongonda  75' Substitutes: FW 9 Cyriel Dessers  45' MF 17 Patrik Hrošovský  59' MF 20 Carel Eiting  59' DF 21 Jere Uronen  64' MF 24 Luca Oyen DF 25 Tuur Rommens MF 28 Joseph Paintsil  75' GK 40 Tobe Leysen Manager: John van den Brom