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Reigning Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League champions Gor Mahia suffered yet another defeat in the top-flight league after a 1-0 loss to a resurgent Kenya Police FC on Saturday. 

K’Ogalo went into the fixture at Police Sacco seeking to bounce back from their recent 1-1 draw against Shabana FC. Before that draw against Tore Bobe, Gor Mahia had also suffered a 1-0 defeat to Bidco United. 

However, Police, who have shown remarkable improvement since the appointment of Burundian tactician Etienne Ndayiragije, proved to be a tough opponent for the record champions. 

After a goalless first half, the law enforcers broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute when Alex Mang’eni capitalised on a defensive lapse inside K’Ogalo’s danger zone to stab the ball home. The result means Gor Mahia, under interim coach Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno, have now gone three matches without a win. 

For Police, this marked their fourth consecutive victory under Ndayiragije, who replaced the sacked Salim Babu and Anthony Kimani. Ndayiragije’s reign began with a 3-1 win against Nairobi City Stars, followed by a 1-0 victory over promoted side Mara Sugar, a resounding 3-0 triumph against Bidco United, and now a 1-0 win against Gor Mahia. 

The defeat saw Gor Mahia drop to sixth on the 18-team league table with 18 points from 12 matches, while Police climbed to fourth with 20 points from the same number of matches. 

Elsewhere, Mara Sugar ended their recent poor run with a narrow 1-0 win over Kariobangi Sharks. The promoted side had gone six matches without a win, their last victory being a 2-0 result against Bidco United on November 3.

Against Sharks, Erick Juma netted a stunning goal in the second half following a clever assist from Brian Ochieng. 

The win lifted Mara Sugar above Gor Mahia to fifth place with 19 points from 14 matches, while Sharks dropped to eighth with 18 points from the same number of matches. 

“We should have done better. Once again, we didn’t impose ourselves on the game,” Otieno lamented after the defeat.

“We should have controlled the game, but we kept losing the ball on too many occasions. We didn’t deserve to lose because we had our chances but failed to convert them.” 

In other matches, Kakamega Homeboyz secured a 1-1 draw against Nairobi City Stars but remain winless in their last three matches. Homeboyz’s last victory was a 2-0 win over Shabana on December 1. 

Meanwhile, Simba wa Nairobi drew 1-1 with FC Talanta. City Stars now sit 11th with 16 points from 14 matches, while Talanta dropped to 15th with 14 points from 13 matches.