With 12 out of 15 KRC Genk can speak of a very successful competition start. Wouter Vrancken’s team dealt with Cercle Brugge in-house thanks to 2 goals from captain Bryan Heynen. The Limburgers are now in the lead together with Antwerp.
Genk – Cercle Brugge in a nutshell
- 18! The age of the man of the match today. Bilal El Khannous already plays complex-free at Genk’s 10th position at a young age. Today, the turntable once again charmed with fine-stringed balls and its technical dexterity.
- 15! It remains a striking statistic. Genk has already scored 15 goals this season. In addition, it took Ally Samatta and Paul Onuachu off the bench in the final. In terms of goal production, that can count.
- 60! The key moment of the game came on the hour. Up to 3 times the crowd shouted for a penalty in this match. 2 times the home supporters, 1 times the away section. Third time’s the charm. Heynen took advantage of Munoz’s tumble from the spot.
- 0,26! “We run like crazy, but we don’t produce enough danger,” Thalhammer said after the game. Today Cercle Brugge again proved that with its physical pressure it is a difficult opponent to play. But the other side of the coin shines a little less. Today it created almost no danger. The verdict: 0.26 expected goals.
Heynen lifts Genk 2 x ahead
Genk gets the stamp of “best team of the moment” from all angles. No surprise. The blue scoring machine already produced 15 goals after 5 match days. That is in stark contrast to the goal desert at challenger Cercle Brugge, which has only managed to score once this season.
The visiting team could already learn with its eyes today. After an even and animated start, the Genkies decorated one goal after another. The danger invariably came from the flanks, where Arteaga/Trésor and Munoz/Paintsil ensured the supply in the box with nice combinations.
That well-known recipe made the eyes of target strikers Samatta and Onuachu sparkle from the couch. It was therefore not their striker competitor Németh who broke the spell, but Bryan Heynen nodded neatly in one of Arteaga’s crosses.
The second half started with a bolt from the blue above the Cegeka Arena. Thalhammer brought Denkey between the lines to innovate offensively. A masterstroke. The physical striker stole the ball after one minute in a hefty duel, in order to assist Deman for the equalizer.
But the away team couldn’t enjoy it for very long. After ten minutes it was already partying in the opposite direction. The beats of The Opposites – who then started their set on the main stage from the neighboring festival, Pukkelpop – inspired Munoz to dive into the 16-meter while dancing. penalty! a breeze for Heynen.
The rest of the game will mainly give the trainers of other teams sleepless nights. In the less flashy final quarter, Vrancken got Samatta and Onuachu off the bench.
Vrancken was able to unpack for a while with the offensive opulence of his team, which is now virtually in the lead. Cercle Brugge feels the hot breath of last place on its neck after this hard-fought loss.
“Who plays sparkling against Cercle Brugge?”
- Thalhammer: “We were not smart enough today. Certainly not in the zone of truth. I was absolutely not satisfied with the effort in the first half. We really showed weaknesses there. In the second half we did show that we can bring the problems. We run like crazy, but we don’t produce enough goals.”
- Vrancken: “We have anticipated the physical game of Cercle Brugge well. My players followed the plan and played their own game. That was not evident with that overwhelming pressure. It may not have been the sparkling football of the past few days. But who does that against Cercle Brugge? We are happy with the result.”
