Ogunjimi fires Genk to Belgian Cup glory

KRC Genk lifted the Belgian Cup for the third time in their history at the Stade Roi Baudouin on Saturday evening by beating KV Mechelen 2-0 thanks to Marvin Ogunjimi's double.

Ten men
The match pitting the teams that finished eighth and tenth in the Eerste Klasse was an evenly balanced affair until the 28th minute, when Mechelen defender Jeroen Mellemans was dismissed for bringing down Ogunjimi. Genk took advantage three minutes before the break as Elianiv Barda served Ogunjimi and the 21-year-old forward fired his team ahead. Although Julien Gorius hit the post for Mechelen from close range early in the second half, it was former Mechelen youth player Ogunjimi who sealed the result by converting the rebound from a Daniel Pudil shot with 62 minutes gone.

'Huge celebration'
With fatigue setting in, Mechelen were unable to force their way back into the match and it was the 20,000 Genk supporters who cheered the final whistle, the club having added to their cup successes in 1998 and 2000. "It does pain to my heart and I would rather have scored against another team, but Genk is my club now," said the hero of the evening, Ogunjimi. "We did not perform too well in the second half of the season, but these two goals did a lot of good for Genk. I'm still only 21 and I still have a lot to prove, so we'll see what the future brings. The first thing we'll do now is have a huge celebration." Genk can also toast the fact that they will enter the UEFA Europa League play-off round next season.