AGF’s first encounter in the Conference League league phase looked set to be a success for much of the match, but things went wrong in the end.
With four minutes remaining, Gent’s Hyllarion Goore headed in the only goal of the game, securing a 1–0 victory for the Belgians.
Prior to that, luck had actually been on AGF’s side. Gent hit the post and forced several major saves from Mads Hedenstad, who looked like he might end up as the hero of the match.
The Belgian league leaders remain undefeated this season and, on paper, represent one of the toughest challenges AGF will face in this phase of the competition.
Nevertheless, AGF coach Jakob Poulsen opted to field several reserve players from the start.
Frederik Tingager, Magnus Knudsen, Tobias Bech, and Frederik Emmery were among the key players rested, though the latter ended up entering the fray early on.
Just over 15 minutes into the match, Mikael Anderson twisted his ankle and limped off the pitch. The Aarhus side made a decent start and came close to taking the lead, but a header was cleared off the line by Daniel Gretarsson.
The Gent players won their duels and were more precise in their passing than the AGF side, who gave the ball away in some critical areas.
The visitors reached the break with the score at 0–0, but their troubles were far from over. Only a great save by Hedenstad prevented striker Ibrahima Cissé from putting Gent 1–0 up ten minutes into the second half.
And a quarter of an hour later, the woodwork stood in the way of the Ivorian. The onslaught eased off slightly, but the visitors still struggled to string together more than a few passes at a time.
Eventually, they were punished. Substitute Goore rose unchallenged in the box and placed the ball past Hedenstad, who dived towards the post in vain.