Gor Mahia coach Leonardo Martins Neiva (46) has revealed why their first defeat of the season against 10-man Nairobi City Stars will serve as a great lesson for the reigning Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League champions heading into subsequent matches.
After a fine start that had seen them thrash promoted side Mathare United 4-0 and Posta Rangers 3-0 before drawing 0-0 against table leaders KCB, K’Ogalo’s unbeaten start was shattered after suffering a shock 2-1 defeat against Simba wa Nairobi at Machakos Stadium on Monday, October 28.
Against City Stars, Gor Mahia had taken a first-half lead courtesy of Levin Odhiambo’s effort but Simba wa Nairobi came a more rejuvenated side in the second period to level the scores and grab the winner despite Edwin Buliba having been sent off for a second bookable offence in the 89th minute.
It was Robinson Asenwa, who started the comeback, first putting City Stars level in the 60th minute before he turned the provider, setting up Dennis Oalo for the winner in the 69th minute and stunning the K’Ogalo faithful, who had thronged the venue to cheer their team.
However, despite K’Ogalo’s relentless attacks to get something from the game in the closing stages, it proved futile as City Stars under Nicholas Muyoti held on to shock the record champions and earn their first win of the season from six matches.
According to Martins Neiva, who tested his first defeat in the top-flight, it will not make sense to press the panic button over the outcome insisting the league has a long way to go and even their rivals will drop points at some stage.
“Football is not a joke,” Martins Neiva told Flashscore when asked to analyse the outcome of the game. “It was a very bad day in the office for Gor Mahia, I mean anything can happen in football, everything is possible, and it turned out that we lost today (Monday).
“It is unfortunate that we never took our chances, and even in the first half, we were leading 1-0 but could not protect the result, but the team as a whole didn’t perform well.”
Being Gor Mahia’s first defeat of the season, the Brazilian gaffer was asked to explain how it felt. He said: “In football, in any sport, no one likes to lose, this defeat will serve as a great lesson, to my players but I don’t want to worry now, the competition is still a long way to go (we have only played three matches) and other clubs will also lose points for sure.”
Gor Mahia went into the game missing the services of their key players – Austin Odhiambo, Rooney Onyango, Sylvester Owino and Geoffrey Onyango – both who are with the national team Harambee Stars in Uganda.
Kenya under head coach Engin Firat are currently participating in the 2024 Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) qualifiers and played South Sudan in the first leg losing 2-0 on Sunday, October 27 at Juba National Stadium.
Kenya will face the Brights Stars in the return leg at the Stade Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda on Sunday, November 3rd.
Asked whether the absence of the players had played a role in the defeat, Martins Neiva responded: “Not really, we have a very good squad, a squad that could do the job minus those missing, we only have to impose ourselves on the field.
“Technically, tactically and physically…we lacked all the aforementioned and nothing looked to work for ourselves. Again we cannot take away their (City Stars) merit, but we lose and must blame it on ourselves. This game will serve as a great lesson for everyone. Football is not a joke!”
