Despite having a goal disallowed, the Nigeria international still found the net as the Blue-White saw off the Reds
Genk defeated Standard Liege 2-0 in Sunday’s Belgian elite division outing with Paul Onuachu and Theo Bongonda getting the goals.
Still hurt by their 2-1 defeat to OH Leuven on February 9, the Blue-White welcomed the Reds to the Luminus Arena, aiming to return to winning ways.
They got off to a fine start with Onuachu finding the net after two minutes. The gangling striker rose above his markers to head past goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart following a well-taken corner kick.
However, the goal was chalked off for offside after referee Nathan Verboomen consulted VAR.
Not weighted by that, Bernd Storck’s men continued to push hard for goals, but they failed to hit the target.
They got the breakthrough in the 44th minute as Bongonda gave the hosts a well-deserved lead with Belgium youth international of Burundian descent Mike Tresor Ndayishimiye providing the assist.
Eight minutes into the second half, Onuachu doubled the advantage for the home team. That was his 14th goal in 22 league games in the 2021-22 campaign as well as his first against the Liege based outfit.
There were no goals for the rest of the match as the visitors returned home with heads bowed low.
Despite a strong performance from Onuachu, he was subbed off for Ghana’s Joseph Paintsil with two minutes left on the clock. That was the same time DR Congo international Bongonda was substituted for Ivorian midfielder Aziz Mohammed.
For Standard, Abdoul Tapsoba – who was one of Burkina Faso’s star performers at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations – was brought on for Mathieu Cafaro in the 70th minute.
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Elsewhere, Morocco’s duo of Mehdi Carcela and Selim Amallah, as well as Moussa Sissako (Mali), as well as Congo’s Merveille Bokadi, were given playing time but they could not rescue their team from losing away from home.
Thanks to this result, Genk climbed to eighth on the log after garnering 38 points from 26 league matches played so far. For Standard Liege, they dropped to 13th with 29 points from the same number of matches.
Onuachu will be hoping to continue his impressive goalscoring spell when Storck’s team host Mechelen on February 16.
