Gent has won the last European ticket in the Jupiler Pro League. They defeated Racing Genk after a dull playoff match, which only became exciting in extra time. A goal by Genk striker Robin Mirisola was still neutralized by a late penalty from Tibe De Vlieger. In the penalty shootout, Gent continued its good run: Davy Roef saved the last penalty from young August De Wannemacker. Gent can now go to the second qualifying round of the Conference League. The match was a real thriller, with few chances for both teams. But when Kongolo committed a penalty offense on Goore deep in the second extra time, Gent got the chance to win the ticket. De Vlieger scored the penalty flawlessly and gave Gent the win. Davy Roef was the hero of the evening, with a crucial save in the penalty shootout. Gent is writing a special story, with a European ticket after a difficult period. The team had not won a match since the end of March, but now managed to win the ticket. Junya Ito, Joris Kayembe, Yaimar Medina, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Mujaid Sadick, Ken Nkuba, Kos Karetsas, Matte Smets and Noah Adedeji-Sternberg were missing from KRC Genk. Nicky Hayen had to puzzle a lot for the crucial playoff match against KAA Gent. The home team smelled its chance against an untested defense with debutant Christian Akpan and should have been ahead at halftime. On the assists of Kadri and Hashioka, Kanga Wilfried got two chances to play himself back into the hearts of the Gent fans, but twice the excellent reflexes of Brughmans prevented that. The contested striker could not be blamed for much. Then Hashioka had more butter on his head just before halftime. Completely free at the second post, he got a great chance to put Gent ahead from close range, but he could not frame his wild shot. Did Genk have nothing to offer? Well, very little indeed. On a corner, Daan Heymans headed the ball into the goal, but after an offense on Hashioka, his goal was disallowed. Furthermore, the visitors did not get any further than a weak header from Steuckers. Genk started the second half better under the impulse of Steuckers, but Heymans could not finish a nicely played attack and Bibout also did not get the ball between the posts. Halfway through the second half, Sonko was allowed to come in for Gent and that substitution was almost worth its weight in gold. Perfectly launched by Kanga, Sonko could storm towards the goal, but his shot ended up in the side net. Until then, the scarce action after the break and thus the extensions were unavoidable. Often not more than a run-up to the penalty shootout, but this time it turned out differently. After an unfortunate intervention by Lopes, Pierre quickly played the ball to Mirisola Robin and the substitute gave Roef no chance. But Gent was unstoppable and managed to win the ticket.