Dessers: Nigeria striker claims brace and assist in Genk victory over Standard Liege

Nigeria striker Cyriel Dessers grabbed a brace and an assist for Genk in a 3-1 win against Standard Liege during a Belgian First Division A encounter on Saturday at Cegeka Arena.

A first goal for the 27-year-old and a penalty coupled with a strike from Tresor Ndayishimiye in the game helped Genk pick up the win, while Denis Dragus scored Liege’s only goal.

For his opener, Dessers needed an assist from Ghanaian international Joseph Paintsil to break the deadlock in the fifth minute. Ndayishimiye doubled the home side’s lead in the 16th minute with an assist from the Nigerian.

Dragus scored his goal in the 24th minute, but Liege suffered a setback when they conceded a penalty that was converted by Dessers in the 29th minute.

After his effort, Dessers was substituted in the 86th minute, with Andras Nemeth coming on to replace him. Initially, Genk had made two changes; Nicolas Castro replaced Bilal El Khannous a minute after the hour mark, before Angelo Preciado replaced Paintsil in the 72nd minute.

Despite five changes that Liege made, they could not mount a comeback to upset Genk on their home turf. The Democratic Republic of Congo star Merveille Mokadi came on for Konstantinos Laifis in Liege’s first change, effected in the 51st minute.

The away side made three changes in the 61st minute; Aleksandar Boljevic, Lucas Ngnokam, and Cihan Canak were thrown into action, taking the places of Renaud Emond, Aron Donnum, and Gilles Dewaele. Their final change came in the 80th minute when coach Ronny Deila brought on William Balikwisha in place of Nicolas Raskin.

Bryan Belgium and El Khannous were Dessers’ teammates that were cautioned in the 17th and 40th minutes, respectively.

Dewaele, Dragus, Gojko Cimirot, and Morocco international Selim Amallah of Liege were yellow-carded in the 26th, 65th, 78th, and 85th minutes, respectively.

While Dessers featured and scored his third goal of the season, his compatriot Paul Onuachu was not in the matchday squad.

Genk will shift focus to their next game against AS Eupen on August 6, while Liege will entertain Cercle Brugge on the same day in league action.