Okumu benched as KAA Gent smash Valerenga IF in Europa Conference League

Kenya international Joseph Okumu was an unused sub as KAA Gent started their Uefa Europa Conference League campaign with a resounding 4-0 win against Valerenga IF on Thursday night.

The Harambee Star completed his move to the Belgian outfit from Swedish club IF Elfsborg on June 20 and in the team’s first competitive match this campaign, he only managed to make the bench and did not come on at Ghelamco Arena.

In his absence, the Buffalos scored through Gianni Bruno in the 11th minute before Tarik Tissoudali made it 2-0 in the 39th minute for a comfortable lead at the half-time break.

Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe then made it 3-0 for Gent in the 56th minute before substitute Yonas Malede capped the night with the fourth goal in the 88th minute against the Norwegians side, who hardly threatened, which allowed the home team to take the advantage heading into the next rounds of matches.

Gent manager Hein van Haezebrouck was impressed with the team’s newcomer Andrew Hjulsager, who managed two assists in the first 40 minutes of the game.

“It was indeed nice to start the season this way, also because there was also a convincing victory. Something like that certainly gives confidence, for me and for the team,” Haezebrouck told the club’s official website after the game.

“We struggled a bit in the first ten minutes. The opponent showed a lot of effort, but after the 1-0 we got full control of the game and I am impressed with how Hjulsager settled in well.”

Despite not scoring Hjulsager said: “The linesman first flagged for offside, but the goal was finally approved. The linesman had not seen that the ball came to me via a player from Vgalerenga.

“The opponent was a bit annoyed by that. But you just have to keep playing, even if the flag is offside.”

On his combination with goal scorer Bruno, Hjulsager explained: “Gianni is a smart player. We like each other. It also worked well in practice matches.

“So hopefully we can take this further and build on this.”