Tolu Arokodare shines as Genk hold St Truiden in six-goal thriller

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria forward, Tolu Arokodare helped his Genk come back from three-goal down to secure a 3-3 draw against St Truiden in a Belgian Jupiler Pro League encounter on Sunday.

A hat-trick within six first-half minutes from Aboubakary Koita saw the visitors storm to a three-goal lead.

The first came from Japanese midfielder, Ryotaro Ito in the 31st minute  before the second arrived five minutes later.

A minute after the restart, St Truiden made it 3-0. It looked like the visitors were coasting home until the introduction of Arokodare, Patrik Hrosovsky, and Joris Kayembe after the restart.

The substitution paid off as Hrosovskyset up Moroccan midfielder, Bilal El Khannouss to reduce the deficit for the host in the 58th minute.

Arokodare, who came in for Luca Oyen made it 3-2 in the 71st minute from another assist from Hrosovsky’s assist.

The goal was Arokodare’s second in seven league games for Genk this season and also scored a goal for the team in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Ghanian forward, Joseph Paintsil made it 3-3 to force the stalemate, scoring five minutes from time.

Genk occupy the seventh position on the log with 12 points after seven games and will next face Club Brugge in the league on September 28, 2023.