Blauw-Zwart suffers 3-1 defeat against league leaders KRC Genk

The new year brought a top match between KRC Genk and Club Brugge on matchday 19 of this season. Vanaken opened the scoring for Club, but the home side equalised quickly. In the second half Onuachu rifled in and eventually Heynen decided the match with a third for Genk.

Club Brugge started 2023 with a new head coach: Scott Parker. It was interesting to see which players he would pick for his first game. Compared to the last game against OH Leuven, Parker made three changes. Balanta, Skov Olsen and Lang were given the nod. They replaced the suspended Onyedika, Sowah and Mata. And months after his injury, Mats Rits returned in the selection of Parker.

Club took the game by the scruff of the neck with a first good dangerous cross from Buchanan in the second minute of the match, but it just evaded Jutglà at the far post. It was an intense start of the match with lots of duels, but lacking clear-cut chances. Fifteen minutes into the game Skov Olsen's attempt flew into the arms of Vandevoordt.

But five minutes later the Genk goalie was beaten. Meijer powered through on the left-hand side, found Vanaken inside the box and the skipper sidefooted it into the far corner.

Blauw-Zwart couldn't hold on to the lead for a long time. Five minutes later Paintsil whipped in a cross which was headed in by Cuesta. A few minutes later the hosts almost took the lead when Paintsil feeded the ball to Onuachu, but Mignolet denied the Nigerian from closeby. The last quarter of an hour was mostly characterized by lots of duels and fouls. Genk coach Vrancken was even sent away with two yellow cards in quick succession. On the stroke of half-time Nielsen tried his luck from outside the box, but Vandevoordt collected the ball without too much trouble.

No changes at the break at the start of the second half, with the home side commanding the pace of the game. Ten minutes in, both sides had a first chance. First it was Muñoz who set Sylla aside and then played the ball into the feet of Heynen, but the Genk captain's shot was an easy catch for Mignolet. Shortly after, it was Club that tried to take the lead again when Jutglà created space for himself inside the penalty area before curling the ball over the crossbar.

The biggest chance in the second half was for Club on the hour mark, when Lang latched onto Vanaken's through ball, but the Dutchman placed the ball wide of the target. A few moments later Vandevoordt was lucky when he kicked the ball against Vanaken and the ball looped over the empty goal.

While Club had some chances, it was mostly the home side that had been putting the pressure on Club. Eventually that resulted in the lead for Genk. Paintsil found Onuachu with a low cross in front of goal. The striker cut past Mechele and rifled it home from close range. Club responded immediately through Skov Olsen, but his curling effort was thwarted by Vandevoordt. Two minutes later, Blauw-Zwart had a great chance to equalize! Rits darted into the area and played the ball to Yaremchuk, but the Ukrainian put it wide. Club upped the pressure on Genk, but was then down to ten when Sylla was booked a second time. This was again a turning point, as the home side took control of the game again. Paintsil tried it from closeby, but Mignolet kept Club in the game with a good save.

But ten minutes before the end Mignolet was beaten a third time this afternoon. Heynen found the back of the net and put the game to bed. The first game with coach Parker at the helm ended in a 3-1 defeat.

Jupiler Pro League – Matchday 19
Attendance: 24.956 – Cegeka Arena
Referee: Lawrence Visser
KRC Genk: Maarten Vandevoordt – Daniel Muñoz, Carlos Cuesta, Mark McKenzie, Gerardo Arteaga – Bryan Heynen (c), Patrik Hrosovsky, Bilal El Khannous (88’ Yira Sor) – Joseph Paintsil, Mike Trésor, Paul Onuachu.
Bench: Tobe Leysen, Mujaid Sadick, Aziz Ouattara, Jay-Dee Geusens, Ally Samatta, Matisse Didden, Yira Sor, Nicolás Castro, Rasmus Carstensen.
Coach: Wouter Vrancken.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Tajon Buchanan, Brandon Mechele, Abakar Sylla, Bjorn Meijer (80’ Denis Odoi) – Éder Balanta (61’ Mats Rits), Casper Nielsen, Hans Vanaken (c) – Andreas Skov Olsen, Noa Lang (80’ Kamal Sowah), Ferran Jutglà (61’ Roman Yaremchuk).
Bench: Senne Lammens, Nick Shinton, Eduard Sobol, Clinton Mata, Denis Odoi, Mats Rits, Kamal Sowah, Antonio Nusa, Roman Yaremchuk.
Coach: Scott Parker.

Yellow cards: Paintsil, Lang, Buchanan, Muñoz, Vrancken (2x), Sylla (2x)
Red cards: Vrancken (2x yellow), Sylla (2x yellow)
Goals: 21’ Vanaken (0-1), 25’ Cuesta (1-1), 67’ Onuachu (2-1), 81’ Heynen (3-1)