Cercle puts AA Gent over the knee after a crazy lock

Cercle Brugge and AA Gent saved the spectacle in the Jan Breydel stadium for the second half. In the first period, which was mainly full of ball loss and technical errors on both sides of the field, both teams played almost nothing in front of the opponent’s goal.

After the break, another game started. Especially home team Cercle came out fresh and was dangerous a handful of times after the whistle. Just before the hour, the Association deservedly took the lead. Captain Charles Vanhoutte painted the ball perfectly on the head of striker Ayase Ueda in the 58th minute, who headed his ninth of the season against the ropes. The Bruges supporters had barely finished celebrating before they could cheer again, because almost immediately after the opening goal, the home team doubled its lead. Striker Denkey rounded off a handsome attack in a controlled manner on the hour mark.

Daland blasts Cercle to victory

AA Gent, involved in the battle for the top four, wanted to avoid defeat and immediately looked for an answer. Cercle goalkeeper Warleson took Hugo Cuypers’ effort in minute 66, but had no chance on Julien De Sart’s rebound. The Buffalos searched diligently for the equalizer, but only found it in the end of the game. Substitute Darko Lemajic climbed the highest on a cross and headed the 2-2 against the ropes in the 90th minute. The tall striker seemed to set the final score, but Jesper Daland gave Cercle the victory with a long shot from a distance in the last seconds of the match.

Due to the victory, Cercle has 33 points and climbs to eighth place, which gives access to the Europe play-offs. AA Gent retains its fourth place with 38 points, but only counts one point more than Standard and Club Brugge, the respective numbers five and six in the standings.