Nicky Hayen was satisfied – we would be less! – after the victory, 2-1 (halftime: 1-1) of Club Bruges against KRC Genk (see Footnews: https://tinyurl.com/2ex2hbyj), Wednesday evening in the semi-final first leg of the Belgian Cup.
“The match was balanced, but if there had to be a winner, it was Bruges!”, said the Bruges coach at a press conference after the match.
Trailing after Tolu Arokodare’s fifteenth goal of the season, the Blauw en Zwart reversed the trend thanks to a masterful effort from Joel Ordonez, guilty of the Limburg goal, and a very controversial penalty transformed by Christos Tzolis.
“We immediately took control of the match and were leading against the run of play,” Hayen lucidly analyzed.
“But we didn’t panic and got back into the game quickly. At 1-1, both teams tried to score. But if there really had to be a winner, it was Bruges. We even had opportunities to increase the score to 2-1, but we lacked clarity in the last 16 meters.”
“The penalty? Genk got one like that too!”
The Bruges coach also returned to the phase of the penalty awarded for a foul by Mujaid Sadick on Ferran Jutgla who had previously pushed his ball too far.
“There is a slight contact. A month ago, Genk received a penalty for a similar foul (missed by Tolu in the championship match, as a reminder). So this could also be the case today (Wednesday, editor’s note.).”
A roundabout way of recognizing that his team had a good advantage in this phase, as already during its equalization at Union Saint-Gilloise, 2-2, in the Jupiler Pro League
It is therefore with a small goal in advance that Bruges will travel to the Cegeka Arena for the return match on Wednesday February 5.
“Genk have won ten matches in a row at home in the league, so we know what awaits us in three weeks,” concluded Hayen. “I also think that the fight for first place in the Jupiler Pro League will also be very close for a long time.”
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