Advantage K’Ogalo
By Charles.Thuku, May 4, 2023Gor Mahia not only built a four-point lead in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League but also earned sweet revenge on Mathare United after a 2-1 win in Kasarani yesterday.
Mathare stunned Gor by a similar margin on March 1 and the result of the reverse fixture has all but boosted K’Ogalo’s chances of lifting the title and especially after their closest challengers Tusker inexplicably settled for a barren draw with Nairobi City Stars in Ruaraka.
Back in Kasarani, Philemon Otieno, perhaps tired of defensive duties, gave Gor the lead in the 25th minute after dummying through Mathare’s defence to find the back of the net.
Mathare then responded with attacks, one of which yielded the equalizer through Ronald Sichenje in the 40th minute.
In Ruaraka, City Stars who have recorded a string of poor results this season frustrated Tusker for a lengthy part of the match with the hosts now being left with a mountain to climb to catch up with Gor with whom they are battling for the title.
The result left Tusker fans shell-shocked considering that the defending champions had been enjoying back to back wins over KCB in the league front and Mozzart Bet Cup going into the fixture.
At Police Sacco Stadium in South “C”, Kenya Police’s challenge for the top honours continued in a 2-0 beating of Bidco United, Elvis Rupia notching a double to continue breathing at the neck of the league top scorer Benson Omala of Gor.
The Harambee Stars forward was a thorn to Bidco’s defence all afternoon and scored the first goal in the 13th minute before adding the icing on the cake with the second with nine minutes remaining on the clock as the law enforcers dislodged KCB from the fourth position in the log.
At Ulinzi Complex, AFC Leopards made a mockery of their emphatic 3-0 win over Bandari in Mozzart Bet when they lost 1-0 to Ulinzi Stars with Boniface Muchiri scoring the solitary goal for the soldiers in the 70th minute.
Meanwhile, Kariobangi Sharks will be out to put behind them the disappointment of suffering an embarrassing 6-1 defeat at the hands of Kakamega Homeboyz in the Mozzart Bet Cup quarter finals last week when they engage Posta Rangers at Kasarani Annex in the only midweek league fixture today.
Sharks loss to Abana Abeingo left their fans disenchanted and although they start favourites, they should expect a potentially explosive confrontation against Rangers who are improving with each match as the league nears the home stretch.
Placed tenth in the standings, Rangers are expected to rely on the likes of Calvin Odongo and Brian Marita for positive results, Sharks strength is expected to be peppered by Keith Imbali and Moses Shikanda in the team’s bid to haul itself up from the eleventh position in the chart.