Brugge manager Philippe Clement made three changes to the side that lost to Antwerp, with Clinton Mata, Mats Rits and Krepin Diatta all returning, while Bafana Bafana talisman Percy Tau started on the bench.
The hosts were enterprising in the early stages, but they only broke the deadlock around the half-hour mark after Rits struck home from Hans Vanaken's rebound.
Oostende had a mountain to climb to get back to the game with eight minutes remaining of the first stanza as they were reduced to ten men after Ronald Vargas was shown a straight red card for a lunging tackle on Simon Deli.
David Okerere came close to making it 2-0 for the hosts after capping his solo-run with a low strike inside the six-yard box but his effort was saved by shot-stopper William Dutoit.
Brugge continued where they left off coming from the break, as it took them only two minutes from the restart to find the second goal with Siebe Schrijvers netting from close range.
Clement made two substitutions around the hour-mark after bringing on Tau for Diatta, while Nigerian striker Emmanuel Dennis came on for his countryman Okerere.
Oostende were enjoying a spell of attacking possession in the latter phase of the game but they lacked the cutting edge in the last third as the encounter ended 2-0 to the league leaders.
As a result, Brugge moved eight points clear at the top of the table, while Oostende slipped down to third-from-bottom.