Match report 21/03/2021

A penalty kick sees Gent past Cercle

With 4 games to play, Cercle hope to move up the table on a visit to Ghent. The Groen-Zwart played well, displaying a good level of organization organized and had the best chances, but Bolat and the post kept Pavlovic and Hoggas from scoring. In the end, the Buffalos earned a penalty kick that was scored by Castro-Montes, which was the match's only goal as the hosts held on to win 1-0.

In a tightly contested first half, the only real chance fell to Pavlovic, who was able to get a header from a corner kick on goal. Bolat, however, was able to get his fingertips to it and at the far post Ugbo had too little time to score from the rebound. While failing to score themselves, Cercle also saw to it that Gent would have little joy against their organization, not even when Marcelin had to leave the field injured after fifteen minutes, with Corryn on to replace the unfortunate Frenchman.

Ghent coach Vanhaezebroeck clearly was frustrated with the performance his team had delivered in the first half and in Tissoudali, Odjidja and Ngadeu he brought on three new players to start the second half. Moments later, Godeau also came on, when Arslanagic briefly lost consciousness after a duel with Ugbo.

The chances continued to be far and few between, although the home team, having made their changes, were able to came up with more. Cercle were also active and in the 70th minute a perfectly weighted ball was played to Hoggas, who had just come on. The substitute did not hesitate and fired a hard shot that unfortunately hit the post.

At the start of the last 10 minutes, Nurio tripped over Vitinho's leg, which resulted in Gent earning a penalty kick. Didillon saved Castro-Montes's first attempt, but couldn't keep hold of the ball and so the fullback was able to slot home, correcting his mistake and give the Buffalos the lead.

The Groen-Zwart, though, did make every effort to pull back a goal. The best chance fell to Denkey, but Bolat stopped the striker's header and it remained 1-0. Cercle had the best chances in both halves, but the late penalty made the difference and they now have to face Beerschot, Leuven and Oostende in need of a win in the relegation battle.

KAA Gent: Bolat - Hanche-Olsen (46' Ngadeu), Arslanagic (55' Godeau), Fortuna, Castro-Montes, Mohammadi (46' Odjidja) - Owusu, Kums, Bezus (46' Tissoudali) - Yaremchuk (86' Marreh) and Depoitre

Cercle: Didillon - Biancone, Marcelin (15' Corryn), Bates, Pavlovic, Vitinho - Vanhoutte (65' Hoggas), Da Silva Lopes (73' Decuyper), Deman (73' Hotic) - Musaba (73' Denkey) and Ugbo

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JPL 2021 KAA Gent-Cercle Brugge (21/03/2021 - 1-0)

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Ten-man Cercle win big against OHL to keep up the fight for survival

When Hoggas got a red card just after the half hour mark, Cercle seemed to have shot themselves in the foot in this vital match in their fight for survival. Still, despite being outnumbered, Cercle showed tremendous resilience and beat OHL comfortably, 3-0. With this result, Cercle took a big step towards staying in the top flight.

The Groen-Zwart showed its attacking ambitions from kick-off and that quickly resulted in some good chances. Romo was lucky after only two minutes that his clearance, rebounding off Ugbo, went wide and a few minutes later Cercle forced him into several saves. Cercel were definitely more eager, but had to watch out for the visitors on the counter. Halfway through the first half, Henry hit a curling shot that flashed just wide. On the half hour, Hoggas tried to pull out of a challenge on Assante, but the VAR had seen the tackle. The ref took the red card from his back pocket. It was a cruel outcome for the midfielder, and Cercle had to play an hour with ten men in a crucial match. However, the Groen-Zwart continued to get forward and were rewarded shortly before half-time. Ugbo took a pass from Deman and scored to make it 1-0.

OHL had shown little before half-time and came back of the dressing room with much more intent. A shot from the substitute Schrijvers ended up coming off the post. Still, it was the inevitable Ugbo that put Cercle in a dine position: a shot from Velkovski was only half-cleared and the Cercle striker reacted fastest to make it 2-0. Leuven increased the pressure and tried to pin back Cercle. However, the defense held up well and on a rare corner, the captain Taravel all but sealed the result as he climbed highest nodded home to make it 3-0 against the run of play. Cercle successfully defended its lead tooth and nail and when Henry came close to a consolation in the closing stages of the match, the goalkeeper Didillon was there to make a great save.

Cercle Bruges: Didillon, Decostere (88' Vitinho), Bates, Taravel (92' Cassaert), Pavlovic, Velkovski, Vanhoutte, Hoggas, Van Der Bruggen (88' Corryn), Deman (88' Hotic) and Ugbo (8' Denkey).

Oud-Heverlee Leuven: Romo (46' Thamsatchanan), Jemelka (67' Tshimanga), Ngawa, Hubert (79' Eppiah), De Norre, Vlietinck (67' Vlietinck), Tamari, Asante (46' Writers), Sowah, Mercier and Henry.

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A battling Cercle take three points against Beerschot

After a fiercely contested match, Cercle took three points at home against Beerschot. Cercle scored twice in the first half hour but made it difficult for themselves with a red card shortly after going ahead 2-0. With Beerschot scoring early in the second half, the Groen-Zwart had a tough task to hold on for the result. However, Vanderhaeghe's men stood their ground, giving Cercle a big victory in the battle for relegation.

When Velkovski deflected a corner by Beerschot against his own post, Cercle had an early shock and were lucky to keep things on level terms. However, the Groen-Zwart quickly took the initiative and their first sight of goal after a wonderful long ball from Lopes. Velkovski took it well, but saw his effort fail to hit the target. Just after the fifteen minute mark the break through came for the hosts as Bates headed a corner on to Biancone, who was in the right place to make it 1-0. Then, when Pavlovic was fouled in the box, the referee pointed to the spot. The team's top scorer, Ike Ugbo, calmly slotted home to allow Cercle to double the lead. A few minutes later, VAR asked the official to look at a foul by Velkovski, and the winger was shown a straight red card, which meant that Cercle would have to play with ten men for nearly an hour. The visitors, who had shown very little of yet, pressed forward immediately and were almost rewarded for it as Dom saw his header hit the post but the Groen-Zwart went into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

The second half started, however with a goal quickly conceded by Cercle. A free kick from Holzhauser early in the second half was headed in by Van Den Bergh. The Groen-Zwart had a tough time playing a man down, but worked hard and showed good organization. They kept the visitors at bay and occasionally got forward on the counter, but neither Hoggas nor Biancone would really threaten Vanhamel. Despite dominating possession, Beerschot created very little in the way of chances. Holzhauzer had a few decent crosses into the area, but even they did not yield very much for the visitors. However, it was on set pieces that Beerschot remained dangerous as Van Den Bergh was close to getting on the end of a free kick from Holzhauser. The visitors got forward threateningly towards the end of the match, but the Mannekes did not get much beyond a shot from Suzuki, which bounced clear of Eleke, as Cercle held on for three vital points in the battle to avoid relegation.

Cercle Brugge: Didillon, Decostere, Biancone, Bates, Pavlovic, Velkovski, Vanhoutte, Da Silva Lopes (88' Hotic), Hoggas (75' Van der Bruggen), Deman (46' Corryn) and Ugbo (75' Ugbo).

Beerschot: Vanhamel, Dom, Radic, Frans (46' Sanyang), Van Den Bergh, Vorogovskiy (46' Bourdin), Sanusi, Pietermaat (80' Eleke), Holzhauser, Brogno (65' Bakkali) and Suzuki.

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