Servette FC Genève
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KRC Genk
Finally, Genk are back in Europe – and we missed it! As evidence of this, more than 700 Genkies made the trip to Geneva today. Wouter Vrancken chose the same eleven as he had against Sporting CP last week.
First half
Any thoughts of a round of observation in Geneva were quickly skipped, as both teams were eager to get straight to the point. After just two minutes, Paintsil's cross was just out of reach for Heynen who had made a run alongside him. Moments later, the Ghanaian moved out of a supporting role with a curling shot that was just over Frick's goal -- just before the flag went up for offside.
A bicycle kick by Crivelli was then the start of a flood of opportunities for the Swiss side. The most dangerous was one that fell to Cognat: the midfielder shot from a sharp angle but it was denied by Vandevoord’s kick save. Servette grew into the game, but just when they were at their most dangerous, Tolu struck from out of nowhere. On a corner kick from Hrosovsky, he was in the right place to cleverly nod the ball home. 0-1! A little later the Swiss had the upper hand again – yes, the game was swingin back and forth quickly – with shots from Bédia, Antunes and a shot from range by Douline. The last of these crashed (fortunately) off the post..
Second half
Things started quickly at the start of the second half as well. On a low cross, Heynen’s effort was delivered too centrally, and it fell into the hands of Frick. Then came a chance for Mike Trésor, who had just entered the match. 10 minutes later came a threat from the home team: Cuesta, who has first outsmarted Crivelli, would lose out a minute later in a duel with the French striker, but Vandevoordt would keep us ahead. Until the 78th minute anyway, because at that moment Rouiller rose above the Genk defence to head in a free kick from Cognat to level the score. It was frustrating, especially when you consider that five minutes earlier Paintsil's goal to make it 0-2 was ruled out for offside.
In the last quarter of the game, both teams had the chance to score a winning goal. Vandevoordt again showed his class on a deflected shot from Fofana, before Crivelli cleared a shot by Cuesta off the line on the other end in stoppage time. It was bad luck, but we return home in a good position in the tie. The second leg with the Swiss side looms next week, on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Thank you to the supporters who travelled along, you were once again great!
