After trailing 3-1 from the first leg, the visitors understood they needed a quick start and nearly cut into the deficit early on through an Miha Zajc opportunity that was deflected just wide.
Mounsef Bakrar then saw a powerful shot from a tight angle graze the outside of the post, while Bruno Goda hammered a strike against the crossbar from outside the penalty area.
Between those chances, Daan Heymans’ flicked header was brilliantly pushed around the post at the other end, before Yira Sor fired over from a central position.
That poor finishing proved costly when the Blues took the lead on the night, though they owed it to opposing goalkeeper Tobias Lawal who gifted possession to Bakrar inside the box with a terrible pass.
The striker could hardly believe his luck and calmly slotted home just before halftime, giving the visitors renewed hope for the second half.
Nicky Hayen likely gave his team strong words during the break, as they performed much better in the second half. Their equalizer came within six minutes when Sor made up for his earlier miss by expertly curling his shot into the net after being set up by Bryan Heynen.
Soon after, Heymans curled a shot just wide of the post from 20 yards, before Dinamo received another lifeline as Junya Ito tripped Gabriel Vidovic. The referee instantly awarded a penalty, and Luka Stojkovic found the bottom corner with the resulting spot-kick.
Robin Mirisola nearly leveled for the hosts soon after with a low drive, but Dominik Livakovic blocked it with his legs before also stopping Sor.
Those saves proved vital as Mario Kovacevic’s side leveled the tie at 4-4 on aggregate when Stojkovic struck a superb 25-yard effort into the top corner.
Genk were shocked, but this was familiar ground for a team that hadn’t won a major European knockout match at home since 2017. Matters nearly worsened in injury time as well, but a weak Cardoso Varela shot was saved, ensuring extra time was needed to decide the outcome, the first ten minutes of which were uneventful.
The Belgian side eventually regained the lead in the tie when Ito perfectly timed his run onto Nikolas Sattlberger’s pass and poked the ball in with the aid of a deflection off Matteo Pérez Vinlöf.
That drained the energy from Dinamo, who suffered another setback when VAR intervened to show a straight red card to Stojković for slapping Matte Smets in the face. Genk aimed to capitalize on their numerical advantage, only for Aaron Bibout to have a close-range attempt saved.
They finally sealed the tie with six minutes remaining, when Jarne Steuckers drove forward and passed to Heymans, who coolly converted his fourth UEL goal of the season to make it 3-3 on the night.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Daan Heymans (Genk)
Links
Contact
App
