KRC Genk had to settle for a place in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) play-off round despite beating Malmo FF 2-1 at the Cegeka Arena, ending a run in which De Smurfen had won just one of their last nine games in all competitions (D3, L5), while the Swedish side were eliminated from the competition with just one point from eight games.
Malmo, who had already been eliminated, were only playing for pride and were looking to avoid finishing the league phase without a single victory.
Miguel Ángel Ramírez’s men started the game well. taking the lead after just four minutes when Taha Ali managed to elude a number of Genk defenders before firing a shot that deflected hard past Tobias Lawal.
Despite the early setback, Genk seemed to be the better team for most of the first half and almost tied it halfway through. Hyun-Gyu Oh shot just wide of the post, shortly before seeing his header from a corner hit the crossbar.
De Smurfen continued to probe as the first half progressed, and they had a perfect opportunity to level the score on the stroke of half-time when Melker Ellborg brought down Matte Smets, resulting in a penalty.
Daan Heymans then stepped up to take the penalty and deftly found the bottom corner.
Genk continued to control the match at the start of the second half, but it was Malmo who had the best chance before the hour mark. Di Blae broke away at high speed before the ball reached Anders Christiansen on the edge of the penalty area, but Lawal deflected his shot from the top corner.
Ellborg also had to intervene with just over 20 minutes remaining, preventing Konstantinos Karetsas from close range.
Genk finally managed to take the lead in the 82nd minute thanks to Karetsas, when the Greek international fired a fantastic shot into the roof of the net from the edge of the penalty area.
The match ended with Genk taking all three points, but in the end they missed out on a place in the top eight on goal difference. Meanwhile, Malmo’s campaign ends in disappointment, and they finish the UEL league phase as one of only three teams to fail to achieve a single victory, finishing in 35th place.
Check out the final night of action from the UEL League stage on Flashscore.
