In a physical battle, Cercle and KV Mechelen held each other to a goalless draw. We didn't see any real chances until the second half. In the final stretches of play, Cercle strove to record a home win, but the deserved goal just wouldn't come.
Dominik Thalhammer made two changes to his team following the defeat against Standard. Charles Vanhoutte took the place of Hannes Van der Bruggen in midfield and Ayase Ueda was preferred to Kevin Denkey as a striker.
After ten minutes we had the first chance: Dino Hotic played a nice through ball to Olivier Deman. Peyre made contact and Olivier went down, but there was too little for a penalty kick, said both referee De Cremer and the VAR. The visitors' answer came via Storm, but his powerful shot was no problem for Majecki.
After the drinks break halfway through the first half, Cercle took the upper hand, but that did not result in more than a few corner kicks. The best opportunities would even fall to the visitors. Maleda even seemed to score to make it 0-1 on the stroke of half-time, but he did so from an offside position.
Even after the break there was again a bit of a wait for any real opportunities, but on the hour Cercle came close to scoring twice. First Ueda fired over goal as his effort deflected off Peyre's leg. After some good build-up play by Da Silva Lopes and Deman, Thibo Somers had the chance to score the opening goal, but his effort went just wide. Then it was up to the visitors to respond, with a few shots from range in quick succession. Shved's was the most dangerous, but Majecki was able to claw the ball away from under the crossbar.
In the final spell of play, Cercle pinned the visitors back and even came close to taking the lead via the substitute Denkey. His headed goal was flagged off for a narrow offside and Coucke also made an excellent save. Thus, a reward for a strong display in the final minutes was not forthcoming and Cercle had to settle for sharing the points.
Lineups:
Cercle Brugge: Majecki, Decostere, Popovic, Daland, Torres (Heitor 64'), Vanhoutte (Van der Bruggen 87'), Da Silva Lopes, Hotic, Somers, Ueda (Denkey 75') and Deman (Kehrer 64')
KV Mechelen: Coucke, Walsh, Peyre, Van Hoorenbeeck, Bolingoli (Swers 86'), Lavalée, Van Hecke (Vanlerberghe 71'), Schoofs, Storm (Hernandez 86'), Hairemans (Da Cruz 71') and Malede (Shved 57').
