Gor Mahia held by Thika United 1-1
Gor Mahia’s march in the 2017 Kenya Premier league was slowed down when they were held by Thika United 1-1 at Nyayo stadium on Sunday. An 83rd minute free-kick by Godfrey Walusimbi salvaged a point for Kogalo after Thika United had taken an early lead and Timothy Otieno missed a penalty.
Additional Reporting from Capital FM
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 21 – Substitute Godfrey Walusimbi saved Kenyan Premier League leaders Gor Mahia the blushes after netting a late equalizer as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Thika United at the Nayo National Stadium on Sunday.
Mwinyi Kibwana had given Thika United the lead in the 28th minute, but Timothy Otieno had a chance to level matters if he had not missed a 68th minute penalty that was saved by Eliud Emase.
The result saw Gor maintain their lead at the summit on 26 points, two ahead of Ulinzi Stars who climbed second after ending Posta Rangers’ unbeaten run as the league approaches the midseason break.
Playing at the Nyayo Stadium for the first time since beating rivals AFC Leopards 3-0, Gor drew the first blood after seven minutes of play but Meddie Kagere squandered the chance before Otieno saw his shot blocked for a fruitless corner.
K’Ogalo were at it again four minutes later with Kagere seeking to make amends but his effort was saved the Emase.
On the other end, Thika found the back of the net in their first chance when Kibwana raced the left flank beating two defenders before finishing past an empty net.
Gor head coach Jose ‘Ze Maria’ Marcelo Fereirra made three changes at the restart with Francis Kahata, Meddie Kagere, Jean Baptiste giving way to Jacques Tuyisenge, Anthony Mbugua and Godfrey Walusimbi respectively.
Saad Musa wasted a glorious chance after Kibwana had done the donkey to tee him up, only for Musa to shoot directly at goal.
Gor Mahia head coach Jose ‘Ze Maria’ Ferreira giving instructions during their game against Thika United at Nyayo National Stadium.PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
The second half went Gor’s way with the record 15-times champions awarded the penalty in the 66th minute when Tuyisenge was hacked down.
The Rwandese international was unable to step up and convert the spot kick as he was taken off the field for treatment and Otieno stepped up only to see his kick saved by Emase.
K’Ogalo pilled pressure and it finally paid off when Walusimbi curled in a freekick that beat Emase and put his side back into the game. However, the match was temporarily stopped for five minutes after players from both side protested a decision from the center referee.
This is after Wellington Ochieng pushed Sammy Mejja to see both players receive yellow card just before Gor custodian Boniface Oluoch produced a crucial save to deny Mwinyi who had gone past the entire defense.
We have to get a plan for these basement teams because we seem not to know how to play them. Timo should not be slaughtered for the missed penalty as it happens to the best of them. Finally, I am lost for words as to whatever happened to the Mugiraneza I saw at CECAFA. I am hesitant to criticize players nowadays but he has been underwhelming and needs to get his mojo back or make space for an upgrade in June. I request the self appointed prefects of this blog to allow me that opinion
Mugiraneza onge bwana macha orumo bro…Those are offloadable characters as even Anthony Mbugua and Amos Nondi are far much better than him in all aspects of the game. I warned against purchasing rejects and Never understood how a serious team of Kogalo stature can go for a failed reject of their peer team in Azam…We must lift our player signing standards man..Thoo
Simply we allowed mediocrity due to overconfidence
It was expected as this absurdity has become normal where teams in the bottom disturb gor . Let’s see what the team will against rangers… ulinzi and tusker breathing on our necks!!
I know some will even think of killing me for giving my view, but for our beloved K’ogalo I must say this :
1)Our coach has total refused to have 1st 11 team.
2) Migi has outlived his football usefulness and should just do honourable think of going back home and play for any club in Rwanda. This should be done not later than June transfer window.
3)I still don’t know why Walusimbi and Miguna were at the bench .
4) Kahata is a great player but I think age and speed is catching up with him.
5)The so called small teams should be serious with.
6) By missing penalty, it’s normal and great players than Timo have done the same…
More to come……
I know some will even think of killing me for giving my view, but for our beloved K’ogalo I must say this :
1)Our coach has total refused to have 1st 11 team.
2) Migi has outlived his football usefulness and should just do honourable think of going back home and play for any club in Rwanda. This should be done not later than June transfer window.
3)I still don’t know why Walusimbi and Miguna were at the bench .
4) Kahata is a great player but I think age and speed is catching up with him.
5)The so called small teams should be serious with.
6) By missing penalty, it’s normal and great players than Timo have done the same…
More to come……
7) Lastly.. I want to hear from I know it all….
At least we get to keep the pole position for another week……as I had predicated , a draw in this game was always going to be a fair results, so am happy with the results both for the club and for the pockets(sportpesa)
NB:RESPONSIBLE BETTING AGAINST BOTTOM CLUBS PLEASE
To me, winning team means good combination and cooperation amongst the best in the team and therefore, the winning team must be maintained and substation be done after having a clear lead to rest the regular players
Several lost chances due to overconfidence. The game should have been burried in first half but we never had a midfielder who could score (you know that our strikers don’t score)!
Poor fielding by starting Kahata & Mugiraneza. Why did Timothy scramble for the ball to take the penalty instead of letting the coach decide? Ok rach.
Poor communication between Wendo, Nizigiyimana and Tuyisenge; always passing the ball to one another in the wrong direction.
Sandro Fantoni should know when to take his shirt off and when to storm the pitch to hold a referee by the collar.
Again, all the teams that have troubled Gor are staring at relegation. There is no room to breathe. Ulinzi, Tusker and Posta are breathing on our necks.
Please guess our probable results against the following teams:
Posta Rangers
Ulinzi Stars
Sofapaka
Muhoroni Youth
Nakumatt?
After the break, Thika players were drilled to waste time and they did it perfectly.
What do you expect when the azam reject starts ahead of walusimb?the had to struggle. This so called mugiraneza should be offloaded come next month,he has outlived his usefulness and Gor is not the American clubs where old tired legs retire.
He was slower than the rest. In most circumstances he gave back passes.
Do we have a midfielder who can nutmeg a few opponents before shooting at goal or passing to strikers?
Yes. We have only Walusimbi and the coach benched him in first half.
Again, this boy Mbugua sparkled brighter than Mugiraneza.
@ jambita, our next three games is a draw , then we wrap up the first leg with two consecutive wins against muhoroni and nakumatt.
Brethren, you can take that to sportpesa and cash it.
Am not taking things personal but I have a feeling Timothy wasted us today. Wrong passes at critical positions. Poor execution of the penalty. Losing the ball easily in front of goal. I mean, apart from Kagere who lacked support upfront, we lacked another striker.
Some fan once remarked here that unless our midfielders or defenders score, we never win games.
Ze Maria has a lot of offloading to do in transfer period.
A Lethargic and overall poor performance by the team today which i have dissected was occasioned by the reasons below:
1. Tinkering with a winning first 11 was very wrong and on this i fault the coach for benching Walusimbi and Resting Muguna and Wafula completely from the 18 man team
2. Mugiraneza played useless backpass full football unworthy of a kogalo jersey and should just leave in June while the sun is high back to his native Rwandese team APR,we don’t need mediocrity
3. We were completely confused in the midfield and lost shape after conceding the goal and ended up running aimlessly
4. First 15 minutes we should have been 2-0 up but kept squandering chance after chance…in football you you must pay heavily for those
5. The triple substitution should have left Kagere in the pitch and taken Timothy out for better equalizing chances
6. Finally,until now Gor struggles or almost entirely loses any game in which we fall behind and don’t score first. We don’t possess character of fighting back like Nuttal days whereby scoring agains’t GM first was a death sentence unto opposing teams (Yanga Cecafa included).
N/B-To be a complete championship worthy team we must build character and resilience to fight back from goals down as that is the TRUE measure of a champion not panicking and running around like whirlwinds without formation just because a basement team has scored first
Draw part of the game.Its good to see the coach rotating the squad.Not Fair to bash kahata & mlgi coz of one game,forgetting the other games they have played and the team won.Mind you we have lost with miguna,walusimbi playing.
@levelmind, you have a point but you have to admit that Migi has not been pulling his weight in all matches he has played. The goal we conceded against Mathare was made possible when he lost possesion and with only three touches after that the ball was in the net. Yesterday, after Karim had ploughed upfield I would have expected him as the midfielder playing to the right to track Shami’s run but he was MIA. Add to that all the missed passes he played and the lost possession and you know we are not demonising him because of one game. As for Kahata, I think he did not play too badly but was not his usual creative best. The coach has the final say in squad selection but if i were him, i would not rest the likes of Walu, Muguna and Wafula unless occassioned by injury. Too bad I am not!!!
As much as a win is a relief it’s amusing how a realistic fan was “shouted down” for wondering why so much fanfare was being attached to the previous narrowest of wins. My 2 cents- 1)can this Ze Maria led TB hack it to the group stages of CAF. Fluke local KPL/Shield wins, probably but anything beyond that i have my doubts. He has never even mentioned CAF soccer.2) Interesting how some behave like jilted lovers towards former players instead of embracing them like the prodigal sons. Personally am yet to see even 1/2 the quality of Dan “Flava” in the current strike force, Kagere included.Compare “Baba” Kizito vs J2! 3) Were previous winning allowances settled b4 the match? IF ONLY ZE MARIA, BLOATED EC AND PLAYERS COULD TAKE NOTE OF “5TH DECEMBER 1987” THEN THEY WOULD KNOW WHY WE ARE(SORRY WERE) KNOWN AS THE MIGHTY GOR MAHIA. Tobias “Jua Kali” Ochola compared with Jolawi, Austin “Makamu” Oduor etc. I rest my case!
Am not saying there’s no place for talented GM faithful in the club’s management but compare Judith Nyangi with Oluoch “Lule” or William Obwaka etc. Why are these illustrious sons of K’Ogalo shunning the club hence denying Gor Mahia the benefits of their valuable passion/practical experiences. Look at the Bayern, Barca & Madrid examples. Their structures are dotted with ex-legends of even earlier years than ours. It’s not so much the drawing against Thicker Utd but rather the fact that recreating that day “5th December 1987”. For now,it seems to be mere wishfully thinking / building castles in the air or is it? Can’t/will history repeat ever itself?
I still have my doubts on Zimaria capabilities of steering gor mahia towards our 16th title.
Come and take the couching duties
Ze Maria is a natural defender and he can only succeed in defence. …that’s my take…
Dino Zoff was a keeper but ended up coaching Italy
@ Dan original…why do you think the team does not score anytime his favourite strikers are in the field?
Guys, I hope we were in the stadium to watch this match. Our coach might not be the favourite for all of us but yesterday you can blame the individual players for underrating Thika. At one point in the process of looking for a classic goal we made almost five touches of the ball in the six yard box. Surely the coach is not there to tell you to score when you have the opportunity. From what I observe Timo and Kagere were our lethal players upfront. And by the way Timo didn’t ask to take the penalty but since Tuyisenge had been injured and the medical staff came into the pitch he had to go out and that’s when he handed Timo the ball. Important that we get facts right and stop being overly emotional. Didn’t Bonnie save a penalty at Nzoia?
All in all some players are still below par and Baptiste is one of them as well as Tuyisenge. Could be the injuries or normal loss of form. I can bet that when we play Posta the real Gor will be back
Now you are talking..but first n foremost thanks to God that despite kogallos mediocrity we shared the spoils!!! True Kogallo will be back!!!…may God help them to be consistent.
But I think generally, the / a coach is “always on the pitch”. He has the final say on the players signed, he trains them for hours every day, he chooses who to field for a particular match and the strategy to use, classic goals or simply goals. As for GM, even a two year old knows that opposing teams will resort time wasting if they score first and from time to time this is bound to happen. Ze Maria has been in KPL long enough and at least against Thicker kudos he and team managed to equalize. To cut a long story short the buck stops with the head coach, both the successes and setbacks are his to savour and bear.
@Original, you make some valid points here and the players must share their part when we win and when we lose. The coach whom, i have decided to refrain from directly attacking must also take credit and blame accordingly. We may have underrated Thika and this was seen in the lethargic display. The brutality with which we closed down spaces in the three preceding matches was sorely missing!!!. The team that had played those three matches had gained some form of understanding and rhythm and while the coach has the final say on match squad, i think resting Muguna(unless he is injured) and benching Walu may have backfired. We live to fight another day and i think when Ze tinkered with his line up he had hoped the new blood would step up to the plate. With hindsight I think he may have learnt a lesson to stick with the winning formula!!!!
I think it would be good for the majority of the players for the coach to show some emotions,anger when players loose clear chances & even play negative football,encourage speedy build up.Am no fan of Maria bt have learnt to live with the situation
After all is said and done let’s also in sportsmanship gesture give credit where it is due. There is this Thika Utd boy wonder called Shami Kibwana who has a knack for scoring classic goals against GM, he did a superb solo effort run yesterday rounding two defending and side stepping Bonny…Last season in our first leg he did the same unleashing a rasping shot from space to beat Bonny and was always a thorn on the left hand side leaving our defenders trailing him. Is it not maybe prudent for the TB to start tracking his play with a view to earmarking him for possible signing in June as a local offensive player option given our forward line is terribly struggling?
What about officiating? Lets vent a little on this too. What did you see yesterday?
@Jasego , on Kibwana, let’s give him more time it may turn to be another Baron Oketch who after giving Kogalo defence at Mow stadium could not mentained the same pace while wearing green Jersey. ..
A winning team must be consistent. Blowing hot or cold will not win us the local championship. I voiced so much reservations with the signing of Jean Baptiste during the transfer period. How I wish I was wrong. My observation is that the only matches Kahata has played in and won of late are those that he has come in as a substitute when the team was already up by a couple of goals. Is the Kahata-Jean Baptiste partnership better than Collins Okoth Gattuso? After showering the team with so much praise after Nzoia, why on earth did Ze Maria interfere with the gallant squad? Someone please make me understand.
@BB, also the late start of the league has led to a pile up of matches but for me it would be better if players were excused or rested from training. Maybe Ze Maria feared injuries before P.Ranger’s who are next. Being signed in GMFC “nikujuana” but the buck still stops with the coach as to who eventually comes on board, here is where i miss Loga. J2 may have a niggling injury that’s affecting him. Look at the Kiongera saga,he never lasts a full game yet some wanted him back at GM, Odula wasted us on the same. The most important ingredient in this “knock about football” is that very special player i.e a Messi supported by a Suarez and Neymar to unlock stubborn games. Can Ze Maria identify/mould such a player to breathe goals & make tiki taka complete. If can’t then let him try Dan “Flava”.The guy is way ahead of our current strike force in every aspect of the game, class is permanent form temporary. Hehehe, Ze Maria ndrawphobia has me/most jittery.
@ barefoot, the squad must be rotated in 2017 due limited number of matches as opposed to yesteryears. Picture a situation where there is no GOtv cup and no top 8 finals, and you have a 30 man squad ?
Me thinks zemaria will have to offload at least 7 players on loan with an option to recall and acquire two new strikers …that’s the only addition we need, two top notch strikers.
I couldn’t attend this match, but am surprised when it read that Johanna Jabatiso is below per! Isokei, let me wait for the next match and see how to gauge the team.# Kogallo pod pek.
Reminds me of when Manchester city drew with relegated Middlesborough , Chelsea lost to ChristalPalace , Man U lost to Watford and Wanyama’s ToTottenham lost to West Ham and Liverpool lost to relegated Sunderlans.
U Win some , Draw some and lose some and at the least expected quarters , That’s football
Too bad the coach cannot depend on Gattuso. Everytime he commands a first team place and the team depends on him, he develops a big head. if not for this, he would be an ideal player in the rotation system
There’s is nothing eti gor was overconfident, we gamed shambolicly & Tusker is gonna overtake us, we lost a coach & replaced him with a gambler.