Club Brugge produced the most clinical performance of the Champions League night on Wednesday, beating Lens 3-0 at the Jan Breydel Stadium despite the French side having more shots. Captain Hans Vanaken struck in first-half stoppage time, Joaquin Seys doubled the lead and Carlos Forbs sealed it — while Yann Sommer's seven saves at the other end made it a perfect European night for Ivan Leko's side.
Sommer stands firm, Vanaken strikes
The first half belonged, improbably, to the goalkeeper of the team that won 3-0. Lens — beaten by Sporting last week in the 2-0 defeat in Lisbon — started brightly, Junior Kadile asking constant questions, and Sommer was forced into save after save as the visitors racked up efforts. Brugge, who had announced themselves by winning 4-3 at Inter, waited for their moment.
It came at the perfect time. In the third minute of added time at the end of the half, Vanaken — captain, heartbeat, the man Brugge build everything around — scored for 1-0. Lens had had the better of the half and went in behind; European football's oldest cruelty, delivered by its most reliable Belgian.
Five minutes after the restart the night tilted decisively. Seys, the young left-back, scored the second for 2-0, and Lens' belief visibly drained. Yannick Cahuzac turned to his bench — Jean-Clair Todibo, Odsonne Edouard and Florian Thauvin all came on — but Sommer refused to be beaten, finishing with seven saves on a night Lens outshot the hosts 14 to nine.
Lens will wonder how they lost by three. Kadile alone had three efforts, Thorgan Hazard and the substitutes Edouard and Thauvin all forced Sommer into action, and the visitors won the corner count five to one — yet every decisive moment belonged to the team in blue and black. Brugge blocked, cleared and countered with a discipline that has become Leko's signature in this competition, and the Jan Breydel crowd sensed a statement result long before the third goal confirmed it.
Forbs seals it as Brugge manage the game
The third goal, on 72 minutes, was made by a substitute and finished by a star in the making: Hugo Vetlesen, four minutes after coming on, created it and Forbs converted for 3-0. Leko then protected his side with a triple change, and Brugge saw the game out with the maturity of a team that has now won back-to-back European games in style, as NBC Sports' live updates tracked across the late window.
There were no red cards — two bookings apiece, for Felix Lemarechal and Vetlesen of Brugge and Matthieu Udol and Michal Skoras of Lens — and the clean sheet, given Lens' 14 shots and seven on target, may please Leko as much as the goals. Nicolo Tresoldi, the hat-trick hero at San Siro, had a quieter night, but Brugge no longer depend on one man.
So what: Brugge up to six, Lens in trouble
Brugge move to six points from three matches and into the top half of the league-phase table, with the play-off places — at minimum — firmly in view and a top-eight push no longer fanciful. They travel to PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 4 on 4 November, one of the form fixtures of the next round.
Lens stay on three points, all from their opening win, and back-to-back defeats have dragged them towards the elimination zone. They host Como on 4 November — the team that just beat Manchester United 4-1 — in a game that has become close to must-win for Cahuzac's side.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this was a masterclass in winning a game you do not dominate. Sommer's wall, Vanaken's timing, Seys' emergence and Forbs' finish — Brugge took their chances and Lens took their frustration home. In a format that rewards exactly this kind of ruthlessness, write Brugge off at your peril. Are Brugge the league phase's dark horses? Let us know in the comments.
