As the qualifying states continues to heat up, one of the matches played ended in a draw between Swiss giants, Servette and Belgian clin, KRC Genk. This Champions League draw ended in a stalemate with Nigerian forward, Tolu Arokodare getting on the scoresheet for his team.
The 22-year-old striker opened the scoring for his team in the 21st minute of the match. The Nigerian used every bit of his six foot six inch frame, rising highest to connect with a cross played in by Patrick Hrosovsky from a corner kick.
21' I TEA-TIME, 0-1! #krcgenk #mijnploeg #OverLandEnZee #sergnk pic.twitter.com/LWGAOvapoo
— KRC Genk (@KRCGenkofficial) July 25, 2023
With KRC Genk having the first leg of this fixture away from home, this goal served as a very important one and Genk did their best to preserve their lead and for the most part they were the better team.
In the second half, Genk's dominance continued but the home team managed an equalizer through Swiss defender Steve Roullier.
It was another goal from a set piece. This time it was a cross from Timothee Cognat which reached the head of Roullier who was at the centre of the box. His header beat Martin Vandervoort between the Genk posts.
With the match ending in a stalemate, Genk will head to the second leg at the Cegeka Arena in Belgium with the advantage.Their performance in the away leg will also give them the confidence and belief to get the victory that they seek and Arokodare's goal was crucial in making that happen.
Their next fixture is the Belgian Pro League opener against RVD Molenbeek. They will travel to Edmond Machtens Stadium in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek
After this game, they will go back to their home turf for the second UEFA Champions League qualifying fixture against Servette on Wednesday, August second.
Who is Tolu Arokodare?
Arokodare was born in Festac Town in Lagos, Nigeria and started his career playing for Kash Academy, International Sports Academy, Flying Sports Academy, and Box2Box FC.
He moved to Europe and got his break in Latvia with FK Valmiera. He played 34 games for the team and scored 22 goals.
He had two loan spells at French Ligue 2 side, Amiens as well as German side, FC Koln before moving to Genk in January 2023.
This goal will be a good start to the season for him and if he kicks on in this vein of form, he may begin to appear on the Super Eagles radar. At 22, is young enough to develop into a striker that could be of use to the national team especially with his physical frame. .
Black stars international also features in Champions League tie
Ghana International, Joseph Paintsil also featured in the match. He plays for Genk and is a teammate of Tolu Arokodare. He will also be looking to qualify for the competition and increase his chances of making AFCON 2023 as well as add to his nine international caps.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
