Odoi, Sowah, Mata and Mbamba win Belgian Super Cup with Club Brugge

Kamal Sowah, Denis Odoi, Noah Bamba and Clinton Mata have won the 2022 Belgian Super Cup with Club Brugge following Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Gent.

Danish forward Andreas Skov Olsen was the hero as his first-half strike separated both teams at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

Having emerged as champions of the 2021-22 Belgian First Division A, they set up a date with the Buffalos who won the Belgian Cup.

Club Brugge dominated the game and were close on three occasions during the opening quarter of the thrilling encounter.

One of their biggest misses saw Ferran Jutgla fail to beat goalkeeper Davy Roef after he was teed up by captain Ruud Vormer.

Ten minutes before the half-time break, Gent thought they had taken the lead when Nurio Fortuna found Morocco’s Tarik Tissoudali to find the net. Nonetheless, that was chalked off for offside by the referee.

On the other hand, Carl Hoefkens’ men took the lead four minutes later. After controlling a pass from Noa Lang, Olsen cut inside before firing home a delightful finish.

The Belgian Cup winners responded with a header by Hugo Cuypers but it was saved by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

In the second half, Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s side went all out in search of an equaliser, but Tissoudali blasted wide with a pass from Cuypers.

Moments later, Andrew Hjulsager tried a long-range effort but that could not threaten Mignolet.

At the end of 90 minutes, it was Club Brugge who emerged victorious to win the title for a record 17th time.

Angola’s Mata saw action from start to finish, whereas DR Congo prospect Bamba played for 66 minutes before he was substituted for Lynnt Audoor.

Ghana’s Sowah was introduced for Bjorn Meijer in the 83rd minute while his compatriot Odoi came in for Owen Otasowie few minutes before the hour mark.

On the other side, Morocco's Tissoudali, Cameroon's Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Kenya's Joseph Okumu and Angola's Fortuna played all 90 minutes.

Club Brugge begin their title defence against Genk on July 24, while Gent travel to the Stade Maurice Dufrasne to commence their 2022-23 season at Standard Liege.