Kenyan international Joseph Okumu – with lots of eyeballs back in his motherland and playing in potentially one of his biggest games in Europe- maintained a picture of calm and lived up to the lofty expectations heaped upon him as his side – KAA Gent – played host to visiting West Ham United in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals tie.Set for his 11th Uefa Europa Conference League appearance, Okumu was deployed in his usual position – in the middle of a three man central defense that comprised of Kamil Piątkowski on his left with former Hertha Berlin defender Jordan Torunarigha lining up on the right-hand side, becoming the first Kenyan to play at this level of the competition.Our starting 1️⃣1️⃣, for tonight, let’s do this!! 🔵⚪ #COBW #gntwhu #UECL #lineup pic.twitter.com/px46vFrmIe— KAA Gent (@KAAGent) April 13, 2023 The game also marked the third straight game Okumu had been selected by head coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck to start, after the former Chemelil defender came in as a late substitute mid-march to score in a comprehensive Gent win over Eupen in the league.To say that Okumu’s performance was with its own share of grit would be an understatement as after a few minutes of early West Ham pressure, the central defender was left dealing with what looked like a blow to his left calf after a slight collision with Jarrod Bowen on the Genk byline in the 26th minute.##NAJAVA_MECA_7176451##A few seconds later, he was back on the pitch as his side made several trips to the West Ham box after a lengthy stoppage from an Ogbonna injury.Genk goalkeeper Davy Roef was a lucky man after his bobbled ball that led to an Aguerd goal was chalked off for offside but the clean sheet for Okumu was ruined as Danny Ings capitalized on a slight miscommunication from the Genk backline to tap home a Bowen ball engineered from a quick throw in from Vladimir Coufal.The second half was better for the Kenyan man – first due to Genk finding a route back in the game through the club topscorer Hugo Cuypers – and also due to the fact that nothing substantial fended off Okumu even as he remained the constant figure in a backline that saw Torunarigha subbed off for Nurio-Fortuna and Piatkowski walk on a tight thread thanks to immense pressure from Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta.At the end of it all, a rather positive result – 1-1 against a team that hadn’t registered anything other than a win in the competition – and one that leaves the door open for a semifinal berth should the team win against the Hammers in Thursday’s second leg at the Olympic Stadium, London.Rating: 7/10.UECL: Lucky Irons survive in Belgium – Gent deserved more than a pointOkumu and KAA Gent next play in the league on Sunday away to 13th-placed MechelenAccording to UEFA statistics, Okumu has been one of the best defenders in the Europa Conference League so far this season with a pass completion rate of 80.43%, 51 balls recovered (an average of 7.29 per game), and 7 tackles (1 per game).
