Cercle Brugge vs Gent

Gent made the short trip to Jan Breydelstadion count, cruising to a 3-0 win over Cercle Brugge that was tighter on the stat sheet than the scoreline suggests. The breakthrough came from an unlikely source in the 21st minute, when an unfortunate deflection off Emmanuel Kakou looped into his own net and handed the visitors an early lead they never gave up. Cercle pushed for an equalizer and matched Gent for possession, but couldn't find a way through. Instead, the game swung further away from them in the second half. Lazare Amani picked up a yellow card in the 71st minute, and a VAR review moments later spotted a handball inside the box, allowing Tibe De Vlieger to calmly convert the resulting penalty in the 78th minute. Five Cercle substitutions couldn't spark a response, and El Hadji Seck, set up by De Vlieger, added a third deep into stoppage time to complete the rout. For Gent, it's a statement road win built on clinical finishing rather than domination, with De Vlieger the standout performer. Cercle Brugge, despite competitive underlying numbers, leave empty-handed and will need to sharpen up defensively after conceding from a set-piece scramble and a costly penalty.