There was a battle of Yanks over the weekend, but otherwise no other Yank saw action in the Pro League.
Standard Liege 2 – 0 Genk
In a Belgian battle of the Yanks, league leaders Genk got egg on their collective faces on Easter Sunday as they fell to sixth place les Rouches in Liege by a 2-0 score line. Mark McKenzie went the distance in his central defensive position, while Marlon Fossey did the same playing on the right wing.
Both goals came before the half time break and both came from the foot of Philip Zinckernagel, as the Dane scored his eighth and ninth goals of the regular season.
The first goal, hitting the back of the net in the 33rd minute, came about under controversial circumstances. After Carlos Cuesta went down injured, Mujaid Sadick was immediately stripped down and ready to come on. The referee had other ideas though and ignored the linesman regarding the substitution. Genk were thus down a man for several minutes and the hosts took advantage of it and took the lead.
The entire team was furious and instead of getting their heads back into the game, preferred to continue complaining and because of it were very sloppy in their own box, bringing down the Danish goal scorer, thus setting him up for his second of the night. The Smurfs were even more outraged because only a minute prior, Joseph Paintsil was brought down in the other box but the referee ignored the foul.
The second half brought no more goals but after the final whistle, the visitors were still feeling aggrieved over their misfortune. Still, after heading home with no points on the bus, the could at least be thankful that Gent held Union St Gilloise to a draw. That result means that they are still holding down the top spot, albeit just two points ahead of the chasers. With just two games left to the regular season, Genk will be looking for a maximum of six points with the next clash coming against Anderlecht on Sunday afternoon.
Notes
Sam Vines wasn’t on the team sheet when Royal Antwerp hosted Cercle Brugge and narrowly beat them by 2 goals to 1. The win keeps them in third place as they look to collect maximum points going into the play-offs. They’ll be hosting Kortrijk over the weekend. The Kerels have nothing to play for as they are mathematically out of the European play-offs picture.
Bryan Reynolds was also MIA as his Westerlo side were unlucky not to beat Anderlecht in Brussels on Sunday afternoon. The two points dropped by les Mauves means that their play-offs fate is no longer in their own hands, while Westerlo can no longer make it into the top four championship ground. They’ll have to avoid dropping points however if they plan to stay in the European play-offs group. Next up for them will be Saturday night when they host Club Brugge.
