conference league
Maccabi Haifa took full advantage of defensive tampering by the Buffaloes. Ghent continues to look for a first victory in 2024.
Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 11:03 PM
AA Gent remains in the corner where the blows fall. However, Hein Vanhaezebrouck aimed for improvement with three interventions: Sonko made his debut in the starting line-up, while Roef and Gandelman were preferred to Schmidt and Hong.
Before the break, Vanhaezebrouck saw his team claim the initiative and Sonko in particular made a few positive appearances, but creating goal danger proved to be very difficult for the Buffaloes. On the other side, Roef was not tested much either. 0-0 was the score at half time.
Vanhaezebrouck brought Depoitre for Sonko after the break. The first Ghent goal was not long in coming, but after a nice collective attack, Gandelman decided on Keouf. On the other hand, it did not always look solid at the back at AA Gent. After Brown initially failed to attend, Roef also intervened a little later, unsure.
It mainly showed the unrest and tense nerves among the Buffaloes, who absolutely wanted to avoid another defeat. In the meantime, there was a growing feeling at Maccabi Haifa that there was more to it than a fair draw. The signal for coach Degu to throw Saief and Refaelov into the fight.
Ghent found it more difficult to put together a full-fledged attack and when Gerkens lost the ball too easily, Pierrot appeared face to face with Roef. The former Mouscron striker did not miss this opportunity. For a moment the line judge seemed to save the Buffalos, but the VAR waved away the appeal for offside and rightly approved the goal.
The Buffalos desperately looked for the equalizer and Hong came to relieve the unfortunate Gerkens. Haifa now leaned back emphatically, but all in all remained upright easily. The Israelis got away well with a good attempt by Gandelman. Vanhaezebrouck’s troops launched a strong final offensive, but in the end Ghent suffered its sixth defeat of 2024 in Budapest. Next Wednesday, the Buffaloes will have to work hard to prevent European elimination. That will have to be without De Sart, who took a third yellow card. (ssg)
