Bacca inspires Club Brugge past Marítimo

Club Brugge KV scored twice in the second half to claim their first victory in UEFA Europa League Group D and leapfrog CS Marítimo in the standings.

The first half produced few chances but Carlos Bacca lit up the second period to inspire the hosts to victory. The forward raced past his marker to give the Belgian side the lead before setting up Björn Vleminckx to complete the scoring and secure Club Brugge's first points of the campaign.

Georges Leekens' men were keen to right the wrongs of their opening-day defeat at the hands of FC Girondins de Bordeaux and they dominated the early possession without properly testing Romain Salin in the Marítimo goal. In fact, it was the visitors who came closest to breaking the deadlock before the break, Bojan Jorgačević acrobatically tipping Joao Luiz's long-range effort onto the crossbar. The Portuguese outfit came close again moments later, only for Fidélis to fire wide after being played in by Briguel.

The Belgian side controlled the game early in the second half and forged ahead on 57 minutes thanks to a moment of brilliance from Bacca. The Colombian forward showed immaculate control before turning on the pace to breeze past Valentin Roberge and shoot across Salin into the bottom left-hand corner. Club Brugge were in the ascendency and Bacca was involved again as they doubled their advantage 19 minutes from time. Jordi's long ball released Bacca, who unselfishly lured the goalkeeper off his line and squared it for Vleminckx to tap in from close range.

Danilo Dias almost gave the visitors hope when he pounced on a loose ball in midfield, but Jorgačević was equal to his strike to maintain Brugge's two-goal advantage and condemn Marítimo to their first defeat in six European games this season.