Club Brugge 1-0 Toulouse: Late Goal Seals Win For Belgians

Club Brugge are through to the Europa League knockout stages after a dramatic late win over Toulouse.

Ivan Perisic scored the only goal in what was a largely forgettable night in Belgium.

Brugge required a point to progress but given their failures at this stage in the past two seasons it wasn't a surprise they started a little anxiously.

Their opponents, who had to win to progress, had Paulo Machado in sparkling form and the Portuguese midfielder provided the one moment of quality in a dreadful first half.

Taking the ball down inside the Brugge area, he twisted away and flicked it first time over the head of Hoefkens before unleashing a terrific volley which was palmed away by Stijnen.

On a frozen night in Belgium the difficult pitch played its part as players from both sides slipped regularly throughout.

With little of quality on display in the first half there was some off the ball
action to keep the fans entertained.

Nabil Dirar and Albin Ebondo both picked up a caution as they squared up to each other in the middle of the park while Gignac went down theatrically after losing a 50/50 with Blondel.

In the dying moments Jonathan Blondel was lucky to not pick up a caution after attempting a karate kick style tackle on Didot.

The hosts dominated the second half and created the handful of half-chances which threatened to lit up the dull contest.

Powerful striker Dorge Kouemaha went on a mazy run in the 57th minute and dribbled past several grey shirts before releasing a tame drive straight at Valverde.

The Cameroon striker looked shy on confidence in the final third and would blaze a late effort over the bar when he burst clear into the box.

Ronald Vargas looked a bright spark for Brugge when he was introduced with 25 minutes to go. He linked up well with Kouemaha who released the Venezuelan into the danger area before hitting a bullet strike which was well anticipated by Valverde.

Toulouse offered precious little as their performance mirrored their grey shirts - dull and ordinary. Their substitute Daniel Braaten ghosted in and almost stole a late winner when he nodded an effort shy of the post.

With the match drifting towards a stalemate the match got a goal it scarcely deserved when Ivan Perisic prodded home in the 92nd minute.

The young striker, who struggled all night, was played in by the excellent Vargas who shrugged aside his markers to present the ball on a plate for the Croatian who fired it home from close range.

Brugge progress to the next phase while Toulouse go out of European competition with a whimper.

Patrick Reilly, Goal.com