Club Brugge recorded a 3-1 triumph over K.V. Oostende in Sunday’s Belgian top-flight encounter staged at the Versluys Arena.
Goals from Mats Rits, Krepin Diatta and Youssouph Badji were all the Blue-Black needed to silence the hosts who got their only strike through Senegalese forward Makhtar Gueye.
Philippe Clement’s men returned to winning ways having suffered a 3-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday’s Champions League showdown.
Both teams started brightly with Oostende having the first chance at goal but Simon Mignolet was alert to save Fashion Sakala’s header. On the other side, the visitors went close to scoring through Ajax forward Noa Lang.
Midway through the first half, the pace dropped and that gave De Kustboys the opportunity to surge forward with Gueye threatening twice, however, he was unable to find the net.
Club Brugge took the lead in the 32nd minute through Rits, who headed home a corner kick from captain Ruud Vormer.
The hosts equalised six minutes later through Gueye courtesy of Andrew Hjulsager’s assist as the first-half ended one goal apiece.
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Oostende started the second-half on the front foot as they went in search of the lead while the Blue-Black relied on counter-attacks.
Nevertheless, their ambition to seal all points at stake suffered a massive setback as Jelle Bataille was given his marching orders following a second caution.
Profiting from this numerical advantage, Diatta gave Clement’s team the lead in the 81st minute after making good use of Eduard Sobol’s pass, while substitute Badji sealed the victory with his 90th-minute strike.
Daitta – who has now scored six goals so far this season - was on parade from start to finish alongside Cote d'Ivoire's duo of Simon Deli and Odilon Kossounou, as well as Angola's Clinton Mata.
Nigeria’s Emmanuel Dennis was replaced by Badji a minute before the hour mark whereas Senegal’s Amadou Sagna was not listed for the encounter.
For the hosts, Zambia’s Sakala saw every minute of the action while Gueye was substituted for Cameron McGeehan in the 67th minute. Cameroon international Fabrice Ondoa was not listed for action by manager Alexander Blessin.
This result saw Club Brugge overtake Sporting Charleroi as leaders while Oostende occupy the 11th spot having accrued 15 points from 11 fixtures.