The sun no longer shined in Deurne, but it was still warm. Great for the fans, who could have a drink at their leisure, but there was no time for relaxation on the field. Last match day against Union (1-0), Genk fought back into the battle for third place. Antwerp lost in Anderlecht (1-0) and therefore had to work hard to regain third place.
No Wine Valley at The Great Old. The Dutchman was suspended for one match day after his collision with Thorgan Hazard last week. Child of the house, Ritchie de Laet, was his replacement. Remarkable: it was the first starting position for right back – who now played on the left – in 2024. Senne Lammens came under the bar and will take on that task throughout the Champions’ Play-off. His French colleague Butez suffered a broken hand last week. No substitutions at Genk: Heynen was not yet fit and was not in the selection.
Like De Bruyne
It didn’t take long to wait for the first round of boos from the home fans. The RAFC supporters provided the necessary Bengali fire. The match started a few minutes later, to the delight of the same supporters. Five minutes later the ball started rolling and a study round was omitted. The opening minutes belonged to the away team. El Khannous hit El Hadj’s buttocks with his free kick, the latter did better a little later and put Lammens to work for the first time.
The home crowd remained hungry for a little longer. De Laet did provide the fire, but he did it his way: he stood head to head with Kayembe, but fortunately this time there was no headbutt. Just before half time, it was the same De Laet who came close to the opening goal with the first chance for Antwerp. Vandevoordt had no success, but the header ultimately flew quite wide.
Extra annoying for Antwerp after that missed opportunity: it was hit in the face on the other side. El Hadj may have looked at De Bruyne’s pearl in England on the way to Deurne. The Moroccan Belgian turned out to be a big fan of the beautiful goal and copied it: cutting inside and painting the ball away in the far corner. Lammens tried, but simply had no answer. That was actually the whole story of Antwerp in the first half, which went into halftime with a 0-1 score.
The savior of Genk
Mark van Bommel also knew that things had to improve in the second half, Balikwisha had to ensure that – at the expense of De Laet. Ondrejka had the Tawny Owl put his hands on each other, with what again looked like a De Bruyne curl, but Vandevoordt tipped it over the bar. Not much later, Ejuke also made his way past the Genk defense. His tight cross was well read by Vandevoordt.
A good start is half the battle, but that’s it for Antwerp for the time being. Van Bommel’s troops did try to threaten, but it was mainly Vrancken’s blue men who combined dangerously through the lines. Alderweireld and Van Den Bosch kept Antwerp straight several times after some important interventions in their own sixteen.
As the end progressed you would expect pressure from Antwerp, but that didn’t come. It was Genk that came close to 0-2: El Khannous had it at his foot, but his place ball found Lammens’ body instead of the net. El Ouahdi preferred to keep it exciting in injury time. Placing the ball wide was not an option for the midfielder, his deflected shot went wide. You would think third time lucky, but Lammens was also the winner of this match. Genk ultimately won on the Antwerp field and is still fully competing for the title. The Great Old remains disappointed with 0 out of 6 and now seems completely out of contention for first place.
