Jupiler Pro League – matchday 18 – 14/12/25 – 7:16 PM
| time | icon | player | homeTime | homeIcon | homePlayer | score | awayPlayer | awayIcon | awayTime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| goal door Griffin Yow na 13′, 0 – 1 | |||||||||
| goal door Hyeon-gyu Oh na 90+4′, 1 – 1 |
After losses in the cup, the competition and in Europe, Racing Genk has averted a 4th consecutive defeat at the last minute. Deep into extra time, Oh Genk leveled against ten-man Westerlo. Genk scores a point, but the atmosphere of crisis remains in Limburg.
Genk – Westerlo in a nutshell
- Man of the match
Griffin Yow did what Genk could not: finish efficiently. He gave Westerlo the lead before halftime, almost delivered the three points, and otherwise played an important role in Westerlo’s plan.
- Key moment
Twenty minutes before the end, Allaerts sends Bayram off the field with a strict VAR exclusion, and then Westerlo has to go back. The Gamecocks only succumbed deep into the final, due to a moment of bad luck from Lapage. Oh was in the right place to save a point.
- Statistics
Genk has not been able to win for the whole of December and has only won the full prize three times in home matches. What is going wrong with the Genkies?
It remains misery in the Cegeka Arena. After the 3-0 against Antwerp, the cup elimination at home against Anderlecht and the loss in Midtjylland, today there is the 1-1 against Westerlo.
That Genk is a team without confidence was evident on Sunday evening. Against a Westerlo that just gave Anderlecht a beating and therefore knows what to do, it was a struggle.
After fifteen minutes the search became a lot more difficult: with Westerlo’s first real chance, Yow mercilessly punished Heynen’s loss of ball, even though the Genk defense simply didn’t look good.
Mirisola op of lat
The deficit was justified, but the equalizer should have been achieved before half time. After a nice combination with Heymans, El Ouahdi served Mirisola at the far post. A goal on a tray, but the young striker hit the crossbar from very close range.
If you don’t take chances like that, it becomes difficult as a team. Mirisola did score before halftime, but left too quickly and was offside.
Genk knew what to do after coffee, but seemed a bit too nervous to do it. Quality and inventiveness were few and far between, Westerlo preyed on the counter.
The Gamecocks seemed to be going to keep that up, until Bayram brought down Sor in the 71st minute. He had a promising attack ahead of him, but did not seem to be on the way to a big goal opportunity. According to the VAR, yes, because he called Allaerts to the screen.
Yellow turned red and Westerlo had to survive another half hour (including 11 minutes of extra time). The cover came deep into injury time. Through an unfortunate carom between Lapage and Jungdal, the ball fell at Oh’s feet. There is no striker in the world who would pass that up.
But more than one point was not possible for the Genkies, which alarm phase applies in the boardrooms?
Hendrik Van Crombrugge (Racing Genk): “Disappointment dominates, that’s what you have to do every time you don’t win at home. We did fight, but we gave away that goal too easily in the first half. After that, everyone wanted to make that decisive action and we forced it. We only started playing football in the second half.”
“Look, I had a good football philosopher with Vincent Kompany. He always said: don’t believe the hype, don’t believe the drama. Football is a microclimate in which many things can change. We must remain calm and not overdramatize.”
Amando Lapage (Westerlo): “This is very sad. They don’t get many chances and then at the end they play everything they can. You knew that they were going to get another chance at the end, and then it is only a half one… It’s a shame that it goes in, but we have already taken a lot of steps throughout the season.”
Charaï: “Yellow was enough”
Issame Charaï (Westerlo): “No, I am not satisfied with the result. I think we could have taken three points. But after that red card, the boys still had to fight for a long time, to put their heads down. I am very proud, I am sorry about that goal. In the end we still get a big chance with Mbamba.”
(about the red card) “Look, I’ve had trouble with the referees before… I don’t want that again, but for me it is a phase in which yellow was enough. The referee saw it correctly at first, but the VAR thought differently. Sor seemed to go out to me and Lapage still had time to intervene.”
Thorsten Fink (Racing Genk): “You can see that our team has no confidence. It’s not like in the past. With the chances we had, we had to score faster. Then we had time to turn things around. But what can I say? We always give everything… But it wasn’t a good match, we couldn’t find our rhythm. It was an open match, I don’t like to see that with my team. Fortunately, there is some rest now. We can really do a lot better. That’s all I can say.”
“Okay, we’re still sixe. Let’s take that as a positive factor. For me it is not about that one point or three points. No one at the club has told me my job is in jeopardy. That is only the case in the media. There is always pressure in football, but let’s keep working.”
End
So long. Genk can’t win again, but they certainly won’t lose today. Against Westerlo the back line seemed to be unstable and they conceded a goal from Griffin Yow at the first real chance. Creating clear-cut chances was difficult, even after Bayram was given a strict red card. Ultimately, Oh was able to score the equalizer from very close range, but the siege yielded no results.
How long do we play beyond the 9 extra minutes? Westerlo has seriously gained some time in the last minutes.
Sor has been giving everything for an entire match, but can still squeeze out a dribble. Oh didn’t expect his pass, otherwise something would have been possible.
Erabi defends in his own box and then launches his own attack. Karetsas can cut in from the right and kick, but again straight into the arms of Jungdal.
Genk alongside!
And there is the equalizer! Hrosovsky puts a low cross in front of goal, where Lapage wants to clear the ball. He is lucky that Jungdal prevents an own goal, but Oh is nearby and taps in the easiest goal of his career. Is Genk still talking about it now?
Genk must thank Van Crombrugge that it is not over and done with. Westerlo breaks out sharply, but Mbamba cannot get the ball past the goalkeeper.
An additional 9 minutes will be added.
What an amount of extra time, nine minutes. Can Genk do something with it?
Karetsas accelerates on the right side. He thus leaves behind the double occupancy and Haspolat. His shot lacks the brilliant quality of his dribble, Karetsas kicks straight at Jungdal.
Erabi goes straight towards Neustadter, but the latter does not let him through. Good attention from the defender, they can no longer hold it against Genk.
Oh ahead!
Westerlo has to camp in its own half. On a new corner, Oh is able to walk around Westerlo’s line but then kicks his shot wide. Another five minutes.
The Gamecocks all throw themselves together for Genk’s shots, victory is sacred. Both Smets and Mirisola cannot get through the wall.
