After a lengthy delay following a serious security breach in the away end, where a large number of unticketed Racing Genk fans broke through the stadium's security and entered the stands, the game between FC Utrecht and Genk kicked off at 21.50 CET.
Without the backing of any of their 1,400 away fans, Genk were the dominant side in the opening phase, with the bulk of the game being played out on Utrecht's half. After forward Aaron Bibout missed his chance, Utrecht striker Sebastien Haller came close to opening the score from close range, but his shot missed the mark.
The hosts upped the pressure shortly before half-time, with Yoann Cathline and Can Bozdogan testing goalkeeper Tobias Lawal several times, but failing to break the deadlock.
The Belgian visitors took the lead out of nowhere via Zakaria El Ouahdi, who profited from a capital mistake from goalkeeper Jeroen Brouwer and saw his shot from distance hobble into the Utrecht goal.
Following El Ouadhi's unexpected goal, Utrecht had trouble retaking control of the game and just managed to create smaller chances, which Dani de Wit and Miguel Rodriguez couldn't convert.
All hopes of an Utrecht comeback looked to come to an end after Genk were given a questionable penalty, which was confirmed nonetheless and subsequently converted by Daan Heymans, who put the game beyond doubt for the Belgian visitors in the 83rd minute.
The hosts failed to muster any form of a comeback in the final minutes, leaving RC Genk to freely confirm their survival in the UEFA Europa League. Meanwhile, FC Utrecht knew that their first European campaign since 2011 would come to an end next week, after their visit to Celtic.
RC Genk have everything to fight for in their final League Phase game against Swedish side Malmo FF, with a place in the top 8 just one point away.
Check out all the match statistics on Flashscore
