Friday, March 12, 2021 at 10:41 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk

Club Brugge has failed to book their eleventh victory in a row in the Jupiler Pro League. Philippe Clement’s team did not get further than a 1-1 draw at Charleroi on Friday evening; a game that was postponed on February 14 due to a frozen turf. Due to the draw, Club Brugge still has sixteen points more and one match less than pursuer Royal Antwerp FC. Noa Lang, Tahith Chong and Ruud Vormer were at the starting signal, Stefano Denswil stayed on the bench for ninety minutes and Bas Dost was still missing due to injuries.

Going into half time with a minimal lead without even shooting between the posts: Club Brugge did it. After eight minutes, the half-time score already appeared on the scoreboard. After an error by Ognjen Vranjes, goalkeeper Rémy Descamps was not convincing and Hans Vanaken worked the ball into the goal via a sliding Dorian Dessoleil. Clement’s team quickly converted his fiery start into a goal, but switched to a slower pace after 25 minutes. However, a weak Charleroi was not able to get the people from Bruges into trouble.

That changed after the break. Karim Belhocine’s team came out of the locker room much better and turned up dangerously several times around Simon Mignolet’s penalty area. For Chong, the game was over after just over an hour of play. The attacker was too bothered by a tough tackle from Vranjes and was replaced by Daniel Pérez. Just before that, the Bruges team claimed a penalty after an alleged foul on Eduard Sobol, but referee Lothar D’Hondt nor the VAR came into action.

The second half was dominated by hard duels, but that did not yield many chances. It remains exciting because of the minimal difference on the scoreboard. Clement did not want to relinquish control and with the entrance of Mats Rits, who replaced a somewhat disappointing Lang, provided more security in the midfield. Yet the visit did not escape an equalization. A swipe by Jordan Botaka on the post was the first warning and not much later the 1-1 fell: Shamar Nicholson was alone at the first post and had an untenable header.