BEERSCHOT – RACING GENK 5 – 2
Beerschot sublimely put the heavy 0-3 home defeat against Standard to bed on this warm late summer evening. Nice passing football and plenty of pluck, dare and quality was all too much for Racing Genk. The score was no less than 5-2. It was no coincidence that Rapha Holzhauser again perfectly combined the roles of inspirer, playmaker, passing master and finisher. With two goals and one decisive move forward he was an absolute star in a cast-iron purple/white block.
It was a match that will have a special place in the annals of our club, because everything that makes football so attractive was on display from our boys. And all this was clearly converted into a modest winning score. We are now a proud second in the league table again. Good stuff.
Beerschot started the match in overdrive, pressed the visitors deep back into their own half and just before a quarter of an hour were rewarded for their attractive offensive approach. After a quick passing move Jan Van den Bergh found Holzhauser in the middle who stroked the ball home. The fourth league goal for our Austrian inspirer.
But our boys could not enjoy the lead for very long. With the first Genk counterattack Maehle fell inside or just outside the penalty area after a tap from Van den Bergh. Referee Geldhof needed the assistance of the VAR before placing the ball on the spot. Onuachu converted the penalty. One-one and everything started again.
The match was now more balanced. Beerschot moved mainly forward on the left wing, nicely joining up with Halaimia. This resulted in little more than a shot from the centre by Tissoudali and a just-missed header from Frans.
And we got away with a free kick on the stroke of half time. And with the assistance of the VAR this time. After a rare blunder by our rear guard, Onuachu put the ball in the back of the net but it looked like he used his arm. A handball goal as Ruud Vormer would say. It was rightly disallowed.
A flying start in the second half too, and 2-1 straight away. It was Holzhauser – who else? – who beautifully sent a free kick over from the left wing to the head of Pierre Bourdin. Superb, and now without any doubt already “the assist of the season 2020-2021”.
After about an hour the match had found its final pattern. Racing Genk had to continue with ten men after a second yellow card for Cuesta with a VAR penalty after handball by Kouassi to follow. Rapha Holzhauser behind the ball… struck low and flawlessly in the bottom left corner and 3-1. The Kiel exploded.
It was over for Racing Genk when a frustrated Bongonda elbowed his opponent Fré Frans. A straight red card and the Limburgers had just nine players for the remaining twenty minutes. But when Van den Berg committed his second penalty offence of the evening and substitute Dessers converted from the penalty spot the match was suddenly (half) up for grabs again.
But not if Yan Vorogovskiy had anything to do with it, when in the 84th minute he hit home hard to secure the day. What a demonstration from our boys, who with 12 points out of 15 moved up to second in the table. Friday evening and on the way to leader Charleroi. A season starter to look forward to and a lip smacker.
Oh yes, we nearly forgot: in the very last minute Marius Noubissi also nicked a goal. Five-two indeed! An eighteen-carat team performance!
SPECTATORS: 3,200
REFERREE: Geldhof
GOALS: 12’ Holzhauser 1-0, 19’ Onuachu 1-1 (penalty), 48’ Bourdin 2-1, 62’ Holzhauser 3-1 (penalty), 76’ Dessers 3-2 (penalty), 84’ Vorogovskiy 4-2, 90’ Noubissi 5-2
BEERSCHOT: Vanhamel, Dom, Frans, Bourdin, Halaimia, Pietermaat, Sanusi (83’ van den Buijs), Van den Bergh (78’ Vorogovskyi), Holzhauser, Tissoudali (67’ Suzuki), Noubissi
RACING GENK: Vukovic, Arteaga, Ito, Bongonda, Onuachu (65’ Dessers), Munoz, Maehle, Lucumi (81’ Sierra-Cappelletti), Kouassi, Thorstvedt (65’ Oeyen), Cuesta
YELLOW CARDS: Cuesta, Kouassi,
RED CARDS: 59’ Cuesta (two yellows), 68’ Bongonda
