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Ike Ugbo: On-loan Chelsea forward nets brace to help 10-man Cercle Brugge see off Oud-Heverlee
The Anglo-Nigerian was on the scoresheet to help the Green and Black clinched their 11th win of the season at Jan Breydel Stadion
Ike Ugbo scored a brace as Cercle Brugge secured a 3-0 victory over Oud-Heverlee in Saturday’s Belgian First Division A game.
The 22-year-old has been turning heads since his arrival at Jan Breydel Stadion and against Marc Brys’s men, he continued the blistering performances.
Cercle Brugge started the encounter on the back foot when they were reduced to 10 men moments after the half-hour mark after Kevin Hoggas was shown a straight red card for a serious foul play.
Shortly before the half-time break, Ugbo opened the scoring with a fine individual effort to put his side on the path of victory.
After the restart, the Anglo-Nigerian continued with the scintillating form, when he doubled Cercle Brugge's lead in the 56th minute.
Jeremy Taravel then sealed the victory with a well-taken effort in the 73rd minute after receiving a timely assist from Dimitar Velkovski.
Ugbo feature for 81 minutes before making way for Kevin Denkey while Ghana’s Kamal Sowah was on parade for the entirety of the game and his compatriot Isaac Asante played for 46 minutes before he was replaced by Siebe Schrijvers.
The victory boosted Cercle Brugge’s relegation fight as they are now 16th on the Belgian First Division A table with 35 points from 33 games.
Ugbo teamed up with the Jan Breydel Stadium outfit last summer on a season-long loan from Premier League giants Chelsea.
The forward has featured in more than 24 games across all competitions for the club and now has 16 goals in the campaign.
Ugbo has been with the Stamford Bridge outfit since 2017 but he is yet to make a single Premier League appearance for the club.
He had made do with loan spells with Barnsley, Milton Keynes Dons, Scunthorpe United, Roda JC before teaming up with the Green and Black.
The attacker has featured for England at the U17 and U20 levels but he is still eligible for play for the Nigeria national team if he chooses.
Ugbo will hope to continue his impressive performances for Cercle Brugge when they take on KV Oostende in their next league outing on April 18.
