Gor Mahia draw with AFC 1-1
The mashemeji derby , 2017 KPL second leg edition ended in a 1-1 draw. Leopards were on the mark first when Musa Mohamed scored an own goal. Meddie Kagere, scored the equalizer in the 35th minute.
Additional reporting from the Standard
Kenya’s two most decorated football clubs share spoils in derby riddled with blunders.
Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards shared the spoils in a thrilling 1-1 draw characterised by defensive errors at Nyayo Stadium.
Despite the draw, Gor are still six points clear (44 points) at the top of the Kenyan Premier League after their title rivals Sofapaka and Posta Rangers also ended in a 1-1 draw in Narok on Saturday.
Defensive blunders from both sides saw two goals scored in a span of 15 minutes. First it was Gor captain Musa Mohamed, who scored into his own net in the 22nd minute before Meddie Kagere capitalised on Musa Mudde’s poor defending to equalise.
The result left AFC coach Robert Matano an excited man, insisting that his 13th placed side (24 points) can secure a top 10 finish.
“We are improving game by game and players are pushing themselves. We needed the three points, but lack of concentration gifted them a goal. Gor are currently in top form and getting a point against them is encouraging. With this performance, top 10 finish is still realistic for us. I am proud of my boys’ performance,” said Matano.
But for Dylan Kerr, it was a frustrating evening for the 15-time champions as the league leaders were a shadow of their former self.
“Credit to AFC Leopards. They battled hard and frustrated us. They indeed came into the party, though I feel disappointed to have let our fans down. But for AFC, it is a good result for them as their fans went home happy,” said Kerr.
Both teams started the match cautiously in a game that was very tactical.
However, it is Gor who progressively took control of the play, pushing the visitors in defence but unfortunately failed to break the deadlock.
Leopards earned a free kick in the 17th minute but Robinson Kamura’s attempt was blocked by Gor Mahia’s wall before Godfrey Walusimbi’s free kick deflected off Mudde for a fruitless corner.
AFC Leopards drew first blood in the 22nd minute when Mohammed deflected Samuel Ndung’u’s dangerous cross from the left into his own net.
Vincent Oburu could have doubled the lead five minutes later but he fluffed his shot before Philemon Otieno’s long range effort was easily gathered by AFC goalkeeper Gabriel Andika.
Gor had an equalising chance on the half hour mark, but Kagere dragged his attempt off target before Jacques Tuyisenge failed to connect George Odhiambo’s cross from the left.
Moments later, Oburu latched on a miss pass in Gor’s half but his shot did not trouble well-positioned goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch.
With nine minutes to halftime, defensive blunder from Mudde allowed Kagere to draw Gor level, beating Andika with a quick shot.
George Odhiambo then wastefully shot wide in the box as Gor continued piling pressure on the Leopards backline
Andika then pulled off a fine save from Kenneth Muguna on the stroke of halftime to ensure the match went into the break tied 1-1.
Just after restart Raymond Omondi beat Gor’s offside trap but his cross was cleared by Mohamed before Alexis Kitenge paved the way for Wyvonne Isuza on AFC side.
Odhiambo would play neat one-two passes with Kagere but the Kenyan international was fouled after handling the ball.
Oluoch made two fantastic saves in succession on the hour mark, stopping Kamura’s dangerous free kick before denying Oburu on a one-on-one situation.
Substitute Boniface Omondi won a free kick for Gor in the 62nd minute, but Walusimbi ballooned his shot over the bar before Oluoch came off his line to punch away Oburu’s cross in the box.
In the 81st minute, Kagere squandered a precious scoring opportunity as he feebly tapped the ball from Karim Nizigiyimana’s delivery into keeper’s hands before Tuyisenge’s header missed the target by inches.
Dennis Sikhayi would make a brilliant tackle, rushing Tuyisenge late in the game before he ran forward to force a superb clearance from Mohamed as both defenders held their nerves to settle for stalemate.
A fair result. There is only one tough game ( against Sofapaka) that is standing between us and the 2017 crown. Congratulations Team.
Who designed today’s uniform ? surely, we should be above that ugly design and sponsors must be annoyed as well since their brands are not legible.
furthermore, meddie should have hit a hatrick today with 4 clear chances but nevertheless, happy with the result, happy with the boys, happy with the TB …only wish we could start reviewing our sportpesa as quickly as possible as betway has just snapped shabana fc.
Our finishing is still down. Why are our strikers not imposed in the final third? The work rate is high but productivity very low. I liked the composure of Miguna and BB
The worst part of being a Kogallo fan is departing from your house with the intention of reaching the stadium then along those jams you receive countless noisy pleas from those hawkers busy chanting:
‘Ngodha dhate’
‘sweets hapa mbao’
‘tao odion fote’
‘ndizi mia’
….
Nyocha aparo ni jogi odhi e state house, kare giduogo gisandore kaka wasandore oko kaendi?
Kwani koko mane gigoyo ni giloyocha to ne mane?
Nairobi streets are bleeding from their resurgence and the populist guy will even permit them to knock onto our doors at midnight to hawk those spoons.
For those who attended the match and could single out individual performance, please brief the site on the highs and lows of these players. I said bye to TV, radio, newspapers and any online local sources of information in this country since I have long been taken for a ride.
Assuming Sofapaka wins all its 12 remaining matches (including beating Gor) then Gor needs the best result of 10 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in order to win the league.
Am still counting and still counting. Gor is the only remaining platform for democracy to bravely show its face in this country so I have high hopes. The rest of the so-called media, IEBChietha, constitution and kiang’owa are street rumours to lull the poor man into eternal sleep and suffering.
Heheheeeeeee. I am a bitter man but I couldn’t help but Lough after reading your post. Gik dhate go dawe. Kata jokuecho ma jokabimbe go ok Ami kata nduru. If I can, I avoid cbd at all costs, it is better to do banking in places like upper Hill. There is total confusion in town. Fiki fiki is now operating in cbd. Tuk tuks are very many around Kenya Archives building! Otherwise let’s “put our eyes” and see how they will manage the city. Congrats to Kogallo. Jowi Jowi. Buy cannanite buil cannanite. Avoid ngodhas from Central republic like plague. Jowi Jowi.
Noise and craziness is back with “thou”, “bei ya mwisho”, “kumi kumi”, “tano kwa ngiri” etc
Hehehe na bado. Waendelee tu. Mimi hapana nunua gik jokabimbe na si tafadhali. I have since moved to a new barber a cannanite.
I don’t trust Coach Matano football
I thought Boniface the winger entered and changed the game..in my opinion he should have been introduced earlier.He was a constant menace to the ingwe backline.
I disagree that a draw was a fair result.Save for the first 20 or so minutes,ingwe were the better team..then it became evenly balanced before we took full control of the game.
However,we still need to thoroughly work on our striking..we missed so many chances to wrap up the game!!infact ingwe were lucky to come away with a point!!
Wacha shemeji akule point moja ukiwa nazo unsaidia ndugu yako, but they must remember that the league is not just about shemeji, they need to pull themselves out of the lower half of the log. The two of us make Kenya football, others are footnotes
The good news is that other challengers also dropped points.
Not bad at all. The problem of wasteful in front of goal, I believe, can only be addressed by transfers/ recruitment. Going by his actions thus far, our head coach Ker has the resolve and will definitely tackle this problem. Hopefully EC will fully support him for it’s the Good Of The Club that takes precedence over and above that of individuals. K’OGALO / FOOTBALL IS ABOUT WINNING TITLES , CAF GROUP STAGES SHOULD BE OUR MINIMUM TARGET COME 2018. We need to move to the next level.
Congrats team but i must mention my preference for peter odhiambo over bonny since even the goal ingwe scored was a boniface oluoch classic. Also playing wendo and philemon slows down our midfield creativity i think either one can hold the role just well and we play a more creative player like boniface omondi or kahata to keep the ball more and torment the opposition. Otherwise shemeji’s have been very loyal politically hence i welcome the brotherly scoreline and urge we keep on the momentum and wrap things up in good time…