Red-hot Joseph Paintsil strikes to rescue point for Genk in Belgium before international break

Ghana forward Joseph Paintsil magically struck the equaliser for KRC Genk in their 1-1 away draw with Cercle Brugge in the Belgian top-flight league on Friday.

The 25-year-old needed just 9 minutes of the second half to cancel Ayase Ueda’s 40th minute opener for the home side.

Tanzanian forward Mbwana Samatta located Paintsil inside the area and the attacker darted the ball into the net for the equalising goal.

Genk straightened up and showed a different face in the second half. That immediately started with a first goal chance for Paintsil, author of a very good second half. Popovic took it from the goal line. Two minutes later it was a hit for the Ghanaian winger. Samatta sent him deep and Paintsil scored the equalizer with a surprising swipe.

Paintsil has now scored 12 times in 26 games in the league for Genk and 1 in 3 games in the Belgian Cup.

He has been included in Chris Hughton’s 25-man Black Stars squad for the 2024 AFCON qualifier against Angola.