Super Eagles watch: Onuachu, Dessers net in Genk heavy defeat at Beerschot
Nigeria Super Eagles duo, Paul Onuachu and Cyriel Dessers netted a goal each from the spot, as KRC Genk suffered a 5-2 loss at K. Beerschot in Jupiler Pro League, matchday five tie on Monday evening.
Onuachu netted a 19th minute penalty – his second goal of the season in four games – after VAR spotted a foul on Joakim Mæhle.
The host had took the lead seven minutes earlier through Raphael Holzhauser, before Onuachu’s equaliser made it 1-1 at half-time.
The newcomers from First Division B regained the lead three minutes after restart, as Pierre Bourdin headed in Raphael Holzhauser’s free-kick from the left flank.
Onuachu and his teammates were reduced to ten men, after Carlos Cuesta received the marching orders for a second bookable offence on the hour mark.
With more pressure pilling on Genk’s defence, Kouassi conceded a penalty for hand ball, allowing Holzhauser to score his second of the day to give the Antwerp-based club a 3-1 lead, three minutes after the hour mark.
Hannes Wolf’s men were further reduced to nine, following Theo Bongonda’s dismissal on the 68th minute.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Genk were able to reduce the deficit through Dessers on the 76th minutes – eleven minutes after replacing his countryman, Onuachu.
The former Heracles man converted from the spot to take his tally to two in five games, after Van Den Berg tripped Junya Ito in the penalty area.
Substitute, Yan Vorogovsky made it 4-2, while Cameroonian striker, Marius Noubissi, who assisted his team’s fourth goal, scored the fifth in the nick of regulation time to secure the maximum points for the Purple-White Army.
14th-placed Genk have now suffered two straight losses in the First Division A, and will be hoping for a redemption, when they host 15th-placed K.V. Mechelen at the Luminous Arena on Sunday.
Onuachi has played six times for the Super Eagles including three appearances at the South Africa 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
He scored his first and only goal against Egypt in an international friendly at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba in March 2019.
Dessers is yet to make his senior national team debut. The 25-year-old forward received his first call-up to Super Eagles in March, for the now rescheduled AFCON 2021 double-header qualifier against Sierra Leone.