After the 1 in 9 in the competition and the European drop in Azerbaijan, Ghent had to put things right at home on Sunday. OHL – itself for weeks in the sucker street – was allowed to play on a bad turf in the Ghelamco Arena jammer.
Just like against Qarabag, Ghent was uninspired in the opening phase. OHL took over after fifteen minutes and did so with great conviction. A chance from Tamari heralded a Leuven rush, but Thorsteinsson, Schrijvers – with a wonderful free kick at the intersection -, Ouedraogo and Gonzalez did not score.
Ghent was happy that it was 0-0 at half time and came onto the field with more intensity after the break. The first, the best chance immediately resulted in a goal: Cuypers was able to put in a close-off from Hong, his 15th goal of the competition.
An excited OHL suddenly barely got anything done. Ghent didn’t even have to play well to control the game, although Nardi still had a nice save on a new free kick by Schrijvers. In minute 73, a second chance also resulted in a second Ghent goal: Kums added the books after a nice one-two with Cuypers.
In the end, Pletinckx hit the bar from the turn and Nsingi also came close to scoring twice, but Leuven’s final offensive yielded nothing. Ghent knows how to win again and is once again within one point of the top four. OHL continues to muddle through with a 3 out of 18.
