Alfred Schreuder says goodbye to Club Brugge with national title in his pocket


Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 3:22 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 15:27

Club Brugge has succeeded in prolonging the national title. Alfred Schreuder’s team secured the eighteenth national championship on Sunday with a victory over Antwerp FC: 1-3. The win gives Club a six-point lead over number two Royale Union Saint-Gilloise. Although Saint-Gilloise still has two games left, the club cannot close the gap, because the club’s halved points total was already rounded up prior to the play-offs. Club still plays against Anderlecht, but is already certain of the title and a Champions League ticket.

Noa Lang had a basic place at Club, but Ruud Vormer and Bas Dost were on the bench. Antwerp proved determined to keep Club from the title and deservedly led 1-0 after the first half. The team of coach Brian Priske looked brighter, won most of the duels and opened the score in the nineteenth minute. Michael Frey simply put defender Clinton Mata away and combined with attacking partner Mbwana Samatta, before scoring the 1-0.

Thanks to an alert Simon Mignolet, Club was spared more damage in the first half. The goalkeeper took a shot from Ritchie De Laet from the far corner and kept his goal clean after the subsequent corner. While lying on the floor, he worked the ball away in an acrobatic manner with his outstretched leg. Not much later, Mignolet also prevented a goal from the incoming Samatta, so that it remained at 1-0 before half time. Lang lost control for a while and took yellow for a frustrated reaction to the time-wasting Pierre Dwomoh.

Things didn’t look rosy for Club, but shortly after the break the visitors came alongside. A foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Lang resulted in a penalty, which was used by Hans Vanaken. After that, Club completely took over the game. Jack Hendry gave the team the lead with a header from a corner by Eduard Sobol. The 1-3 also came from a corner: this time the incoming Sargis Adamyan finished it off at the far post. Dost came in for the injured Adamyan eighteen minutes before the end. Schreuder, who will start working for Ajax next season, also brought Vormer into the line.