Disillusionment abounds for Ardon Jashari, who again could not win with Club Brugge. 15 out of 30 after ten matches: that is far too little for the national champion. “Their goal came completely out of nowhere,” said Ardon Jashari, again in the starting line-up at Club Brugge. “We had 70 percent of the ball, tried to create something and had everything under control. Did we have any problems with their intensity? Not at all, because Union couldn’t prepare much.”
However, Jashari also felt that Club had few goal-ready opportunities. “We need to make better use of the spaces, that doesn’t happen enough yet,” says Jashari. Also not enough at Club: the number of points after ten competition matches is simply too meager. “We know that too, but everyone has to start with themselves,” says Jashari.
“There is no one in this group who didn’t want to win. We also showed that today. So we have to continue working. Today only one team deserved the victory, and that was Club Brugge. We should have always won.”
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“More difficult to play offensive football than just putting down a block”
All in all, captain Hans Vanaken could live with the point against Union. “If you look at the course of the match and the chances, then maybe. We were the dominant team, but it is never easy against Union. Certainly not if you fall behind.” Before half-time, Skoras missed a great chance to make it 1-0, which, according to Vanaken, had a major effect on the rest of the match. “If he scores that, I’m almost certain we’ll win. With a few details, we are not far from the best Club. There may still be some depth missing for the time being, the pace was a bit too slow.”
He finished with a small jab at opponent Union. “We always try to find the opening and play offensive football, which is a lot more difficult than just making a block.”
Mechele scored the equalizer with a striking header. Although the defender withheld the praise after the match. “It was just a good corner. I walked where I was supposed to and the ball came into my zone. I’ve already made a few.” His goal ultimately only earned Club a point. “I would have liked more, yes,” Mechele was honest. “We were the better team, especially in possession. I just had to be careful with their transitions, because they are very dangerous there. Unfortunately we could only score once. It’s kind of the story of this season: we weren’t efficient enough in both boxes, because Mignolet also took two good balls in the second half.”
Mixed feelings at Union
“A fair draw? I think so,” Noah Sadiki said immediately after the final whistle in front of the DAZN cameras. “We created chances, both in the first half and in the second, but they were more dominant in the second half. All in all, I think this result was justified.” Sadiki was also asked about the low block and Union’s wait-and-see attitude. “It wasn’t the idea to come here and wait, but you just know that those first ten minutes here are always very difficult. And in the end we had to keep the block that way. However, I think we did well, except on that last corner. It’s a shame that we didn’t get three points in the end, but you can also see that we are getting better week after week. It will happen.”
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Mixed feelings at Union, because midfielder Charles Vanhoutte was disappointed. “Especially when you take the lead. A draw here is never a bad thing, but we actually had to win here.” How does he analyze the match? “We were good, I think in the first half we lacked some quality in the final third. We often had more time than we thought. We played better in the second half.”
Vanhoutte also received a question about his team’s wait-and-see attitude. “ We were ordered to keep the lines close together, and the defensive line was to advance as quickly as possible. The intention was to stay close to each other. I think we executed our plan well, they didn’t get to play often.”
