Okumu puts up decent performance in historic quarters appearance against West Ham

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.

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.

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 handball 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.

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Okumu and KAA Gent next play in the league on Sunday away to 13th-placed Mechelen

According 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).