Cercle was the strongest from the starting blocks, with opportunities for Denkey and Matondo already in the opening quarter. Genk, for its part, only got the engine up and running after about twenty minutes. That also resulted in a goal after a goal, Onuachu’s header ended up against the crossbar.
Just when Genk had restored the balance in the match, Cercle struck for the first time. Matondo slipped through the offside trap, got rid of Sadick and calmly deposited the 1-0 in goal.
A disgruntled Storck made three substitutions during halftime, but it was once again Cercle that found their way to goal. Miangue nodded a perfectly cut corner from Hotic against the ropes: 2-0.
Immediately afterwards, Denkey forgot to deliver the coup de grace, and that would break Cercle sour, because Genk fought back into the match in a few minutes. Bongonda and Heynen hung the signs again before the hour.
In the last half hour, Cercle and Genk continued to entertain the audience with attacking football, but no more goals were scored. Ito and Denkey still saw the winning goal stranded against the frame. It remained 2-2, the battle for the top 8 is not yet settled.
Bryan Heynen (KRC Genk): “The first half was far below our level. If it doesn’t work out on a football level, there has to be a fight, but even that was missing. We also said that during halftime. We then came out of the dressing rooms with the right attitude, and I think the second half was all ours.”
“I can’t say why that mentality wasn’t there in the first half. Everyone knew we should show that mentality. It’s a shame we didn’t do that in the first half. In the end we still had enough opportunities to do more. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, but I think, given the first half, we should be happy with a point, so we’ll have to keep fighting until the last game.”
Rabbi Matondo (Cercle Brugge): “We are all disappointed with the result. A point against a strong opponent like Genk is nice, but we feel there was more to it. We also had enough chances to win, so it’s a shame we didn’t get the three managed to get points.”
“Getting to the top eight is now going to be very difficult, but you never know. In any case, we have a good mentality: always fight and keep pushing. We will continue to do that in the last four games, and maybe it will be there then still in.”
