2023-09-21 20:48:45
On the move against the Ukrainians of Zorya Louhansk, La Gantoise went to have a share at the end of a meeting rather to its advantage which did not thrill the few people present in the stands.
After a round of 16 and a quarter, La Gantoise returned to the Conference League for the third time this Thursday with, once again, the ambition to go far. Seeded in a group with the Israelis of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, the Ukrainians of Zorya Louhansk and the Icelanders of Breidablik UBK, the Ghent were the favorites. For their first match, the Buffalos faced Zorya who was not really playing at home but rather in Poland due to the war in Ukraine.
The first real opportunity of the meeting came from the feet of Cuypers who beat the opposing goalkeeper but the ball went wide by a few centimeters (11th). If the Buffalos still had difficulty creating chances, they could have opened the scoring without a superb release from Turbayevskyi on a strike of Brown (34th). Opposite, the biggest Ukrainian opportunities were flagged offside. At the break, the score was still 0-0.
If the start of the second half saw the Ukrainians achieve their first shot on target, it mainly saw Gerkens miss a five-star opportunity. After a Cuypers header was pushed back by the goalkeeper, the former Anderlecht player was in the ideal place in the small rectangle to open the scoring but his volley was blocked (54th).
The minutes that followed were much more intense. Guerrero first missed a face-to-face with Roef, missing the target while he was in an ideal position (65th). Only a few minutes later, the Panamanian redeemed himself by equalizing with a nice shot (70th) in the wake of Cuypers’ opening score from a corner, taking advantage of a small deflection (67th). In the final minutes, Cuypers was on the verge of giving his team the lead again but his shot landed on the post (81st).
In the group’s other meeting, Maccabi Tel-Aviv got the better of Breidablik (3-2). In two weeks, Ghent will host the Israeli club, its highest ranked rival in the UEFA coefficient.
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