Joaquin Seys debut dampened as Club Brugge held by Mechelen in opener #2344

Club Brugge 1 Mechelen 1FT

51'Joaquin Seys (Brugge)
65'Patrick Pflucke (Mechelen)

Jan Breydel Stadium, Brugge

It is the opening of a brand new season in Belgium. The first of the top five leagues to get their season kicked off by Friday night. A few days ago Champions Club Brugge battled Union Saint-Gilloise In the Belgium Super Cup. The Champions inevitably fell short as the yellow side of Russell’s engineered only their second trophy of the last century. However, we are about to embark on a brand new season. We are at the Jan Breydel Stadium In Brugge this Friday night as Club Brugge hosts Mechelen. Club Brugge is looking for a back-to-back title to re-engineer its dominance in Belgium. last season they finished 4th in the first part of the campaign. They were nowhere near the summit. However, came to play off They took advantage collecting the most points Club Brugge managed to secure the biggest turnaround we have seen in the Jupiter pro league to win the title. They will be revving up for another one. Meanwhile, Mechelen had an outstanding campaign. They finished 8th in the league not that far off the qualifying for the championship round. then in the European round, they finished second in the table narrowly missing out on Europe. We can expect a very productive season this upcoming campaign. However, They will be gritting their teeth as they look to The Champions in the opening match of the Jupiter Belgium Pro league as Club Brugge & Mechelen clash horns on a Friday night at Jan Breydel Stadium As the season begins here in Belgium.

This particular matchup is not an uncommon one for the opening fixture of the season. Three of the last four seasons They have met on the opening match of the season. including the last campaign as they exchanged points. Mechelen Very much hope to test the champs. Club Brugge oddly leaves Skov Olson on the bench as Antonio Nusa gives the nod ahead of him. Club Brugge wants to put their new toys on display with Gustaf Nilsson & Christos Tzolis. Club Brugge dominated possession in an attempt to unlock their attacking contributions. Meanwhile, Mechelen supplied a defensive setup. In the fourth minute Club Brugge aims to strike early Hans Vanaken links with Antonio Nusa as the Norwegian teenager strikes from outside the box. It is well defended by Mechleen. However, it is repossessed by Hugo Vetlesen As he strikes from close range De Wolf comes up with A save. This was only the beginning. the defending Champions seemed more or less in control pinning back the opposition and forcing defensive contributions from the visitors. Mechelen has found life a little bit difficult In the attacking sense as they have been forced into defensive situations fairly frequently. In the 15th minute Hans Vanaken finds Gustaf Nilsson on the right side of the box but very well defended as the new signing watches his attempt clash into the defense. Mechleen didn’t have huge issues moving the ball but was very frequently forced into undesirable circumstances To their credit they have defended well including stopping counter-attacks before they have gotten off their feet. In the 20th minute though Mechelen took a stab at it from outside the box German center forward Patrick Pflücke It’s an effort, although it is not challenged Mignolet. In the 24th minute debutant Joaquin Seys It’s a beautiful cross that flashes across the screen Hugo Vetlesen gets his head on the end of it as it drifts wide. In the 28th minute, Mechelen provides an excellent chance for themselves as Daam Foulon delivers a beautiful cross. unfortunately, the header went nowhere as it feels like they mismanaged that substantially. there were not a lot of opportunities for them as they were under pressure constantly. In the 32nd minute Club Brugge seemed to be on to something new signing Christos Tzolis sent a ball into the box Hans Vanaken gets his head on the end of it causing a deflection that is sent out for a corner. Off of the corner, Raphael Onyedika takes a vicious powerful strike that hits the post. last year’s Champions have been completely all over them but have not taken advantage in front of the goal as they very well could be running away with this once again it remains level, but that was probably the closest to a goal we have seen thus far. 2 minutes later Joaquin Seys sends a ball into Gustaf Nilsson before his header drags off to the left. The first half was winding down in the 40th minute. Antonio Nusa slides a pass for Christos Tzolis The Greek International tries to guide it into the bottom corner but once again De Wolf comes up with it. To end the first half in the 45th minute Christos Tzolis catches it from close range but Powers it over the first half comes to a close without a goal in sight thus far.

Club Brugge without question has been the superior side. They have shown some incredible football along with dominating play. However, they have not managed to find their moment, particularly in front of goal despite how one-sided it does appear. however, credit must be given to the visitors. By the way, they have defended it. This match seems to be crying for Skov Olson and they have not seen that killer instinct in front of goal. Club Brugge has engineered twice as many opportunities yet has not pressured them enough. The second half picked up where the first half left off. In the 49th minute, Gustaf Nilsson Hits it out of the air De Wolf Is unfazed as he has put on a clinic in his debut for the visitors against the Champions. However, despite all that he would make a catastrophic mistake just a few minutes later. In the 51st minute, Joaquin Seys coming off a big deflection picks it up. driving it towards the bottom corner. it slightly deflects off of the knee of the keeper rolling into the back of the net as the 19-year-old has arrived in professional football, giving the Champions a 1-0 lead.

The fullback that has gone through the academy delivers in his first match. However, the goalkeeping must be taken into consideration as good as he has been so far. That was a big mistake as the Champions lead. The match to a certain extent slowed down. Mechleen started to come to life a bit. Even though the Champions probably should have put out the fire already. the visitors trying to show that little bit of fight. In the 63rd minute, Gustaf Nilsson looked to capitalize for Brugge from very close his shot on goal was deflected Ferran Jutglà picked it up from a distance before the keeper made the save. However, the visitors would have their moment. In the 65th minute, The substitution of Petter Dahl appeared to be a masterstroke by Besnik Hasi. The Norwegian Talent from the left side takes on the defender towing. the line cuts away beating him inside He then sends a strong pass that rips over the grass to Pflucke As he takes a one-touch finish into the back of the net Mechleen gets The equalizer 1-1. 25 minutes remaining and the visitors have leveled the Champions. those missed chances early on now look as if they could be constantly. It then became a slow-paced chess match between the two sides. This is the exact score of the season opener last year. There's still time for things to turn around for one of these sides to get themselves a winner. Joaquin Seys continues to boss the game from the fullback spot as he takes the ball forward. he dumps it off Zaid Romero The Argentine center-back unloads a deep strike from 35 m out trying to keep the goalkeeper slipping He can't land it but came very close to doing so. Mechleen gets themselves a corner in the 73rd minute. Bas Van den Eynden drives his head against a cross put in by Bilal Bafdili unfortunately missing the mark as it drags. A minute later Michal Skóras whips it for Hugo Siquet As he strikes from the side of the box De Wolf comes up with the much-important save. A couple minutes later Gustaf Nilsson tries to use his big body from close range to wreak havoc. despite having played well, he sees another blocked attempt after trying to beat the new keeper. It seemed as if we were possibly heading for a draw with not a lot of time left with only 10 minutes to go finally Skov Olson got his number called some would argue far too late. They battle back and forth but club Brugge builds on the momentum. In the dying embers of the match in the 94th minute they had one last hurray Skov Olson delivered a pitch Perfect ball into Gustaf Nilsson Hits the bar as it ricochets away with their last gasp chance having slipped through their fingers, the full-time whistle went very entertaining clash ending with the same score line to a year ago as Club Brugge are held at home by Mechelen To start the new season.

This was only the first match of the season, so perhaps the result and the performances of both teams don’t mean a great deal. After 90 minutes. It’s unclear what either side is going to look like in the next 3 months. It would be impossible to detect that just based on what we saw. This is the smallest of sample sizes. however, there are a few thoughts that one could detect from this. Club Brugge somewhat seemed overwhelmed by the attacking options that they now have this season and they made mistakes. They created an avalanche of chances, particularly in the first half. They had 15 shots in the first 45 minutes. I actually think it was more than that. However, They did not capitalize on those moments in the first half in which they needed to. Gustaf Nilsson & Christos Tzolis was brand new editions to the attack. Both looked encouraging in the first match Of the season. Even though they did lose the Super Cup a few days earlier, I still think 120 minutes of play is too much to reach any sort of conclusion about what club Brugge Is going to be this season. However, what we saw was a truly incredible amount of chances created throughout the match in the opener. They just couldn’t find the finishing touch in front of gold. some of it is simply dumb luck. they hit the post twice and very well could have found a winner in the closing minutes of the match. However, over these first two games, Club Brugge looked like last season’s regular season rather than the playoff form. overall they did very well but couldn’t find a clinical touch when they needed to. It opened the opportunity for a comeback. not to mention they were very lucky to score in the first place. A huge goalkeeping mistake allowed Joaquin Seys To score his first goal in professional football. The 19-year-old was terrific not only in the attacking sense but also defensively. I thought he had a really outstanding Performance. I’m not going to read too much into it because there are only two games but I would say that a mistake was made leaving Skov Olson on the bench until the very end of the match he made an impact as he delivered the cross that ended up clashing with the crossbar in the 94th minute. Overall they have a lot of quality and the manager is going to have to try to manage all of it. However, there’s too much quality and talent in this team not to be a threat for the title again. overall a good performance. but the two things I would say are the clinical finishing was an issue and leaving Olson on the bench I thought was just silly. wasn’t anywhere near their best, but certain positives can be taken for Mechelen, They defended very well. The goalkeeping mistake was bad, however, outside of that he was outstanding. it does seem like you have a good goalkeeper here for this season. De Wolf was excellent outside of the Big mistake. He kept them in the game and eventually, they found their moment with Dahl coming off the bench making the big impact before setting up the equalizer. They had very few chances the entire match but they made them count. it was his individual quality in that moment as he had an outstanding debut from the bench for Mechelen I also think they descended quite well but didn’t have anything going in the Midfield or attack for most of the match. There are little things that can be taken from both sides, but this was just the first game of the season. I don’t think there’s too much to take away overall from either side. Next Sunday Club Brugge will travel to Standard Liege As they look to get their first victory of the Season. Meanwhile, Next Saturday will face off against Westerlo at home with a great chance to pick up maximum points. The Belgium league has got underway as Club Brugge and Mechelen split points at Jan Breydel Stadium.