Easy win against OH Leuven.

KRC Genk comfortably won their encounter with OH Leuven. In a chilly Cristal Arena the final score was 5 - 0.

"Grabbing the three points against Leuven is all important," coach Mario Been stated before the game. Genk desperately needed those points to stay in the top six. "Every should realize that it's money time," Been added. With Lázsló Köteles out through a hamstring injury Logan Bailly returned in goal in what used to be his Cristal Arena. Nadson suffered bruised ribs in the Mechelen game and was replaced by Hubert. Been returned to his 4-4-2 tactics with Vossen and Barda upfront.

OHL coach Ronny Vangeneugden too returned to his former habitat. "I feel like a member of the family who was away for a while and has now returned," he joked. Fact is that he had no problems in his selection. Iakovenko, another former member of the Genk family, and now on loan at Leuven, was eligible to play and started on the bench.

Genk swing as in the old times.

Genk started the game with great enthusiasm. Tözsér teed up Vossen and later De Bruyne but goalkeeper Kaminski was up to his task. Buffel tried a volley from a rebound but totally miscued the bal. Seconds later De Bruyne hooked the ball inside to his right foot but his attempts went only inches wide.
Three minutes later Genk struck home. After a give and go with Barda, Buffel entered the penalty area. His shot was parried by Kaminski. De Bruyne was on the right spot to drive home from the rebound. Bareley two minutes later De Bruyne doubled the score. Barda waited long enough to allow De Bruyne to get into position and then provided him with the right cross. Kaminski didn't stand a chance.

Another five minutes later the game was over for Leuven. Buffel chipped the ball toward Vossen, who attempted a volley. The ball bounced over a desperately grabbling Kaminski. Genk kept pushing but Vossen forgot to pass the ball to Tözsér all alone in front of an empty goal. Instead he tried a backheel that went wide much to his captain's anger. It was only a delay of execution. 32 minutes into the game Camus reached Buffel with a free kick toward the far post. His header increased the score to 4 - 0. Leuven then finally got their first opportunity. Bailly missed his intervention, impeded by Annys or not, and Demjek's scoop deflected of the bar over the touch line. Genk eased off a bit. Vossen had another opportunity alone in front of Kaminski but he missed his first touch and the chance was gone. So the score stayed at 4 - 0 at halftime.

Smooth grip in the game in the second half.

Been had no reason to make any changes to his team at halftime. Ronny Vangeneugden had all the more. He brought on Iakovenko and Raymaeckers for Ruytinx and Gendarme. The second half was much less entertaining. Until the hour there was no excitement in the chilly Cristal Arena except for an excellent free kick by Camus that only just went wide and a shot by Chuka into the sidenetting. Ayub came on instead of Buffel and Barda was substituted by Benteke. He immediately acknowledged his thanks with a goal. Anele put the bal square and Benteke had no problem scoring the fifth goal. Peeters replaced Tözsér and Benteke had another scoring opporunity but Kaminski was quicker to the ball. Ayub tried his chance but Dejmek prevented the goal in the nick of time. Nothing more happened and Been got what he wanted. Three points and sparkling football, at least in the first half.

KRC Genk line up : Bailly, Anele, Simaeys, Hubert, Tshimanga, Tözsér (77' Peeters), Camus, De Bruyne, Buffel (62' Ayub), Vossen and Barda (72' Benteke).

OH Leuven line up : Kaminski, Boi, Remacle (77' Salou), Annys, Ruytinx (45' Raymaeckers), Geraerts, Chuka, Dejmek, Diandy, Gendarme (45' Iakovenko) and Gislason.

Scoresheet :
15’ : 1 – 0 : De Bruyne
17’ : 2 – 0 : De Bruyne
21’ : 3 – 0 : Vossen
33’ : 4 – 0 : Buffel
77' : 5 - 0 : Benteke

Yellow cards : 53' Dejmek

Red cards :

Referee : Claude Bourdouxhe

Attendance : 23.439