Yahoo Sports Kilmarnock 1-1 Cercle Brugge: All even after a physical first leg in Scotland
Cercle Brugge headed to Kilmarnock to begin their European journey in the Europa League qualifiers on Thursday night. There was a fantastic atmosphere as the home fans packed into Rugby Park, with a fair few making the trip from Brugge as well.
The sides went in at half-time at 0-0 in what was a slow start to the game. The wet pitch, with the persistant rain, made for a scrappy affair between the two sides. Kilmarnock were well organised and Kyle Vassel was proving a handful up-front. However, Cercle shaded the posession and had two decent chances. The first for Kazeem Olaigbe really should have been the opener, but after a fine pass from Abdoul Ouattara he blazed over. Kilmarnock then went close, with Warleson having to command his box and collect a couple of crosses. The closest either side got was when Kevin Denkey played Olaigbe through on the left. His ball inside found Thibo Somers, whose cross to the back post was met well by Ouattara. Unfortunately for the young Burkina Faso winger, Kilmarnock goalkeeper Robbie McCorie pulled off a fine save.
The sun finally came out in the second-half, and Cercle took advantage of the drier conditions. Denkey won the ball well in midfield, fed it into the feet of Olaigbe on the edge of the box. The young winger cut inside and curled the ball beyond McCorie to make it 1-0 to the Belgian side. This clearly woke the home side up. Kilmarnock went direct and from set pieces they began to look dangerous. From a long throw, the ball bounced in off the head of Vassel to make it 1-1.
Kilmarnock then looked the more dangerous side, with every corner providing to be a test for the Cercle defence. They just about managed to survive, with Warleson having to rescue them on one occasion with a fine save. 1-1 isn’t the worst result for Cercle, but they will need to work on defending set pieces and long throws before the second leg in Brugge.
