A pair of Yanks went head to head over the weekend as Mark McKenzie faced Chris Durkin, while Joe Efford’s side tasted victory.
Sint-Truiden 1 – 2 Genk
Chris Durkin and Sint-Truiden welcomed Mark McKenzie and Genk to the Stayen and allowed them to head back home with all of the points in the bag. Durkin played 84 minutes while his fellow American went the distance in his central defender role.
This edition of the Limburg derby got underway on Sunday afternoon with the Genk coach making seven changes from his midweek game against Rapid Vienna. Japanese Junya Ito was given the captain’s armband, perhaps as extra motivation against the team that started four players from Japan (with two also on the bench). Things didn’t go according to plan however for the visitors because it wasn’t their Japanese striker who scored the first goal of the game but STVV’s. Yuma Suzuki put his Canaries ahead three minutes into first half stoppage time.
But that was all the boys in blue and yellow could muster because the second half belonged to the Belgian Cup winners. Joseph Paintsil came off the bench to tie things up, but it was their prolific goal machine who had to come off the bench as well to score his fourth of the season.
With this result, Genk climbs up to third place with a game in hand and only three points behind league leaders, Club Brugge while Sint-Truiden finds themselves in the 11th spot.
Next up for McKenzie’s team is a midweek trip to Antwerp while Durkin’s head east to take on Standard Liege over the weekend.
Molenbeek 1 – 3 Waasland-Beveren
Joe Efford got the nod on Friday night and put in a 63 minute shift as his Waasland-Beveren travelled to Brussels to take on Molenbeek in First Division B action. The Flemish side put three past Theo Defourny in the Racing White Daring de Molenbeek goal.
The scoring commenced in the 25th minute when Michael Davis, who just came on as a sub a few minutes earlier scored at the near post from inside the 18 yard box. The Brussels boys were back on level terms five minutes later however Corenthyn Lavie was spotted making a run up the right flank. His ball across the face of goal was a very good one where William Togui managed to get a toe on it to redirect from very close range.
The scoring continued in the second half and it was all from the visitors. In the 65th minute Florian Le Joncour mistimed his tackle and brought down Sadek Faucher, who just came on for Efford. The French defender earned himself a yellow card and gave up a penalty kick. Swiss midfielder Leonardo Bertone put the ball on the spot and made a halfhearted effort that Defourny easily saved.
With just 11 minutes left on the clock however, Faucher scored from just seven yards out. The final strike came in stoppage time from another sub; this time it was Austrian Daniel Maderner who stormed forward on the break with Aristote Bazunga and received the pass that put the game out of reach.
W-B will be on the road again Friday night when they make the short trip to Lier to take on KSK Lierse.
Notes
Sam Vines did not make it onto the team sheet when Royal Antwerp hosted RFC Seraing on Sunday evening. The oldest team in Belgium collected all the points with a 2-1 home victory and will look for three more against Genk.
Owen Otasowie spent the duration of Club Brugge’s game at Charleroi on the bench as they came away with a 1-0 victory to stay in first place. They’ll stay home this weekend and welcome OH Leuven to the Venice of the North.
