Ike Ugbo scored while Blessing Eleke was in action as Cercle Brugge secured a 2-1 victory over Beerschot in Sunday’s Belgian First Division A game.
Ugbo teamed up with the Green and Black from Premier League giants Chelsea for his fifth loan spell away from the Stamford Bridge outfit last summer.
The 22-year-old has been delivering impressive showings since his arrival and at Jan Breydel Stadion, he was afforded his 30th league appearance and seized the opportunity to score his 14th goal of the season.
His compatriot Eleke was handed his 17th league appearance and gave a good account of himself, although he could not help the Purple White Army avoid defeat.
Cercle Brugge started the game impressively, scoring as early as the 18th minute through Giulian Biancone after he was set up by David Bates.
Ugbo then doubled the Green and Black’s lead in the 34th minute, converting his effort from the penalty spot.
Cercle Brugge then suffered a blow in the 38th minute when they were reduced to 10 men after Dimitar Velkovski was shown a straight red card.
Beerschot launched an attempted comeback in the second half and reduced the deficit in the 50th minute through Jan van den Bergh after receiving an assist from Raphael Holzhauser.
Despite the Purple White Army’s efforts to try and avoid defeat, Yves Vanderhaeghe’s men held on to their lead to clinch all three points.
Ugbo played for 76 minutes before making way for Kevin Denkey, completed one dribble and had 30 touches on the ball.
Eleke played for nine minutes in the encounter after replacing Tom Pietermaat and had a 100 percent successful pass rate.
With the result, Cercle Brugge moved to the 16th spot on the Belgian First Division A table after gathering 32 points from 32 games.
Beerschot dropped to the seventh spot with 44 points from 31 games and will hope to bounce back from the defeat when they take on Sporting Charleroi in their next outing on April 7.
Cercle Brugge, meanwhile, will aim to continue in winning ways when they take on OH Leuven in their next league game on April 10.