Nigerian forwarder Tolu Arokodare, who played a key role in KRC Genk’s 2-0 victory over Anderlecht at the Cegeka Arena on Sunday, has been hailed by coach Thorsten Fink as a quality striker who even contributes defensively.
The Nigerian striker scored and assisted on Sunday to help the team increase their lead in the standings after Arokodare and Genk recovered from last week’s loss to defending champions Club Brugge.
The 24-year-old opened the scoring for the home team in the 29th minute for his 11th goal of the season in 19 appearances and then set up Konstantinos Karetsas for Genk’s second goal 18 minutes from time.
Following their display against Brugge last week, Fink made several changes ahead of their clash against Anderlecht, but he stuck with the striker, and that decision paid off for the coach.
“Tolu is a top striker,” Fink said via Voetbalprimeur.
“He is fast, strong in the air, left and right-footed, and he scores. What more could you, as a coach, want? Moreover, he now carries out his defensive tasks more than before.”
The coach also reflected on his changes.
“Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t,” he said via Het Nieuwsblad.
“When I was an assistant to Giovanni Trapattoni, he told me he lost a European Cup final because he had changed his team. Sometimes, you better stick to your team. But now I thought it was an opportunity to make some bills with success.”
Reflecting on the historic win, Arokodare in an interview with DAZN expressed his delight.
“This is an important victory for us. We dominated from the first to the last minute. It was the perfect reaction after the match against Club Brugge,” he said.
“This was the match that our club and the fans needed. Our fans continued to support us even after the defeat last week.
“Of course, I am happy with my goal. We are making history today with our ninth home win in a row. I am happy to be part of Genk history.”
On the team’s approach to the game, Arokodare said, “We were patient. That’s our game. We let the ball go well and we knew the chances would come. I could have scored more, but I’m happy with the win and the record.”
After Sunday’s heroics, Arokodare is now just a goal shy of his overall tally from last season as the Smurfs are also charging for the title this term with 41 points after 19 matches.
