KRC Genk
3 
1
KV Oostende
“In Salzburg we weren’t agressive enough,” Felice Mazzu started his press chat the day before the game. “Everybody was down the first few days but on Friday I could see spirits going up again. I hope everybody has made the mental switch. It all comes down to wetting the shirts and go for it.”
Theo Bongonda sustained an ankle injury in Salzburg. This game came too early for him. Joseph Paintsil and Jakub Piotrowski were left out the squad.
Felice Mazzu changed his starting line-up pretty drastically. In defense Cuesta replaced Dewaest, in midfield Hagi started instead of Heynen and up front there were two strikers: Samatta and Onuachu. Ito replaced Ndongala on the right wing.
KV Ostend were wary of the game. At least that was what assistent coach Franky Van der Elst said. “We can’t draw any conclusions from the Genk defeat in Salzburg,” the former Red Devil said. “I can only hope that we won’t pay the price for that.”
Skulason was fit to play again. He was in the squad together with Capon and D’Haese and featured in the starting line-up. Neto, Banda, Hjulsager and Palaversa were out.
Onuachu erases Sylla’s equalizer.
From the beginning of the game Genk were determined to take the game in hand. Hagi provided a cross from the left but Samatta had to lean backward too much to put any power on his header. The ball went over the crossbar. After ten minutes Samatta infiltrated through the center but Dutoit managed to hit the ball out of harm’s way. Hrošovský teed himself up from outside the box but his shot went wide.
On the opposite side Canesin pushed forward on the right to find Vandendriessche in front of goal. His attempt from close range went wide. But then the hosts went ahead. Ito flicked on a corner and Dutoit had to go all-in to prevent a goal but Vargas fumbled it into his own net.
The Blues went in search of a second goal. Onuachu was teed up fort he first time, he pivoted away from his marker only to shoot wide. On the other side of the pitch Vandendriessche was allowed a second attempt. This time, the ball went far wide. Still, this was the prelude for the equalizer. Skulason provided an excellent cross, Sylla overpowered Lucumí to head home the 1 – 1.
Genk retaliated almost instantly. Faes defended poorly allowing Samatta to strike with his right. The ball deflected wide off the post. But it was merely a delay. With one minute left on the clock Mæhle reached the touch line and pulled the ball back in front of goal. Onuachu was the quickest to slide in the 2 – 1.
Berge adds another one.
The first ten minutes of the second half were all about Junya Ito. First the Japanese hooked the bal to his left only to see his shot blocked by a defender. A few minutes later Ito hesitated between taking the shot himself or serving the bal to Mæhle. He took the wrong decision and saw his shot sail over the bar. Shortly after a Cuesta header met the same fate although he could have left the ball to Onuachu.
Shortly after the hour mark Mæhle pushed up through the center. Somehow he managed to reach the touch line to see his ball back being intercepted by Dutoit. At the other end Coucke stood out when Sylla came into possession of the ball straight in front of goal. The Genk goalkeeper managed to prevent the equalizer with an excellent reflex save.
He had to repeat that with ten minutes to go. D’Haese was teed up right in front of goal but again Coucke produced a world class save. The pace of the game went down but still Genk managed to score a third. Once again it was Ito who provided the cross from the right allowing Berge to put in the reassuring third goal at the far post.
KRC Genk line-up: Coucke, Mæhle, Cuesta, Lucumí, Uronen, Berge, Hrošovský, Ito, Hagi (75’ Ndongala), Samatta and Onuachu (70’ Heynen).
KV Ostend line-up: Dutoit, Faes, Milovic, Junior Sakala, Marquet (72’ Jonckheere), Vargas (65’ D’Haese), Skulason, Sylla, Bataille, Vandendriessche en Canesin.
Goalscorers :
16’ : 1 – 0 : Vargas (owngoal)
31’ : 1 – 1 : Sylla
44’ : 2 – 1 : Onuachu
90’ : 3 – 1 : Berge
Bookings : 07’ Hagi, 76’ Sylla, 82’ Vandendriessche, 87’ Hrošovský
Referee: Bram Van Driessche
Attendance : 18.114
