It took the Anglo-Nigerian five minutes into his first appearance for the Smurfs to find the back of the net against the Purple and Whites
Ike Ugbo scored on his first Genk game to propel John van den Brom’s men to a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht on Sunday evening.
The former England youth international – who joined the Smurfs from Chelsea – was introduced for Paul Onuachu in the 82nd minute of the keenly contested encounter.
And with just five minutes of action, he handed his team all three points after firing past goalkeeper Hendrik van Crombrugge courtesy of a pass from Kristian Thorstvedt.
Having bowed 2-1 to Vitesse in their last encounter, the Purple and White travelled to Cegeka Arena with the ambition of returning to winning ways.
They showed their intent to win by threatening in the opening minute, albeit, they could not beat goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt who put up an impressive performance.
In the 20th minute, Genk had their first real chance, but Carel Eiting fluffed the opportunity. Another chance beckoned a few minutes later, albeit, Junya Ito could not take advantage of Kristian Thorstvedt’s pass.
On the other side, Jhon Lucumi dived into the path of a shot from Joshua Zirkzee and blocked an attempt from Benito Raman when he went alone towards Vandevoordt.
Genk stepped up their game in the second half, yet they could not find the breakthrough with Onuachu missing a couple of chances.
With the game looking destined to ended 0-0, Ugbo had the final say to send the home fans into wild jubilation.
Joseph Paintsil (Ghana), Kelvin John (Tanzania), Eboue Kouassi (Cote d’Ivoire) and Stephen Odey (Nigeria) were not dressed for action by manager Van den Brom
On the other hand, Ghana’s Majeed Ashimeru was introduced for Morocco prospect Anouar Ait El Hadj with five minutes left on the clock, while his compatriot Dauda Mohammed was an unused substitute.
Thanks to this win, Genk now occupy the fourth position in the Belgian topflight log having accrued ten points from six points played so far.
Onuachu – who now boasts three goals in all competitions this season – is expected to fly down to Nigeria on Monday to join Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles who will face Liberia and Cape Verde in September’s World Cup qualifiers.
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