European LeagueRacing Genk drew 2-2 against West Ham at home. The Limburgers seemed to be heading for defeat after a strong first half, but thanks to a goal from Soucek they still held a point at home. In the conference league AA Gent also drew against Partizan Belgrade.
Racing Genk gained confidence against Zolt Vargem after a difficult period and appeared against West Ham opponents of a different caliber. Genk started quickly and let the ball go well from one foot to the other from the kick-off. This resulted in a goal after only five minutes. Paintsil – again a favourite over Bongonda – crossed over Aréola with the help of Ito.
The goal gave more confidence to the Limburger team, to the point that visitors did not appear in the lot for a long time. John van den Brom’s side wanted to make the most of the domination and went looking for 2-0. Onuachu, Heynen, Ito and Paintsil failed to double the score. In between, Vandvoordt just had to keep Dawson’s header out of his line.
As the first half drew to a close, West Ham struggled a bit more in the match. Vandevoordt had to dodge a close attempt on Ben Rahma, two minutes later Genk’s goalkeeper had Hrosovsky help. The Slovak took a chance from Antonio just before the line. Genk went to the end of the first half with a 1-0 lead after an interesting first half.
Another West Ham after the break
West Ham manager David Moyes must have rocked his forces during the break as the English showed a different face in the second half. Genk suddenly got much less time to play football and had to leave control of the match to the visitors. Fifteen minutes later in the second half, West Ham scored the equalizer. Benrahma completed an attack through Lanzini and Koval through Vandvoordt’s legs: 1-1.
Even after a tie, Genk failed to get close to the level before the break. West Ham continued to dictate the law and create opportunities. After Koval and Dawson initially scored wide, Benrahma scored again. Once again, the Algerian hit the ball accurately between Vandevoordt’s legs.
You might think Genk is against the canvas, but the Limburger family received help from an unexpected source. Preciado searched for Unwacho’s head with a cross, but it was Tomas Suchek who headed the ball into his own goal. Genk still takes a point and thus moves to second in the group with four points at the moment. West Ham lead well with ten points, Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna each have three and play against each other later.
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