Club is again (shared) in the lead. It was sweating on the coast for a long time, but a creditable KV Oostende eventually broke down: 1-3. The red card for Bataille fifteen minutes before the end turned out to be decisive, because Diatta and Badji made the difference in the final phase. KVO is not rewarded for the second week in a row against a top team, blue-black goes into the international break with peace of mind.
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Club Brugge was able to do a great job on Sunday: due to the draws of Charleroi, Antwerp, Standard and Beerschot, it could again come alongside leader Charleroi with a victory. In any case, a win would be good again, because that is – Champions League included – already four matches ago. Clement already chose the same names who lost to Dortmund. At Ostend, Hendry was in extremis fit for the West-Flemish game. Even without fans, that match is especially alive at KVO: the Kustboys immediately attacked. Hjulsager was quickly dangerous with a line on goal, then Club slowly but surely took over.
This did not yield any concrete opportunities, until half an hour. A short corner kick ended up in the feet of Vormer, who saw Rits alone in front of goal. The latter simply headed in: a huge coverage error at Ostend. However, KVO had tried until then. Both Gueye and Sakala tried acrobatically, but their efforts went over and over. The backlog did not disturb Ostend. On the contrary: even before half-time, the signs were again in balance in the Diaz Arena. Gueye forced the tying run after a fine action in the box. He held off Deli well and beat Mignolet in the turn with a lower slide through a number of Bruges legs. Club tried to go to the dressing room with a lead: Dennis once more disbanded his demons. Twice Hubert was very much on his toes: the goalkeeper prevented worse.
After half time the same scenario as in the first half: KVO that immediately took the initiative. Sakala signed for the first chance, but headed wide. Club had a harder time finding opportunities and saw KVO believe in more. Mignolet had to pull out all the stops on a cross that threatened to antics in goal, and then the Red Devil himself came out unorthodox. Twice it yielded no hit for Ostend. However, it was the moment, because with only one point in the prospect, Club Brugge again pushed harder on the accelerator during the fourth quarter of the match. The fact that Bataille had to leave fifteen minutes before the end with a second yellow card after an error on substitute De Ketelaere, did not help the Kustboys either.