Gor Mahia held scoreless by Tusker
Image courtesy of the Nation
The Kenya Premier League match pitting Gor Mahia and defending champions Tusker ended in a 0-0 draw at Afraha stadium on Saturday. In the process Kogalo relinquished the top spot to Rangers
Additional reporting from the Nation
In the Gor-Tusker encounter, the champions were lucky to escape with a point as Gor wasted a dozen scoring chances particularly in the last 15 minutes of an exciting match after the brewers’ Ugandan midfielder Hashim Sempala was sent off.
The smooth flow of the early exchanges was disrupted following a heavy down pour which lasted for half an hour reducing the pitch into a bowl of waterlogged surface.
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SLIPPERY PITCH
After the rain stopped, Gor seemed to master the slippery pitch as they took the game to brewers box.
Meddie Kagere, scorer of Gor’s winning goals in their last two matches, missed a chance to open the scoring for K’Ogalo after his header from Karim Nizigiyimana’s cross went inches off target.
The 2016 KPL MVP Kenneth Muguna also had a rasping shot that missed the target as the 15-time champions intensified their hunt for the opener.
Gor picked up from where they had left it in the second half before Tusker coach George Nsimbe, under-fire after only winning one of the opening five matches, summoned Clifford Alwanga for Michael Khamati.
On the opposite side, Gor tactician Jose Marcelo Ferreira introduced the attacking trio of Timothy Otieno, Innocent Wafula and Francis Kahata for Jacques Tuyisenge, Karim Nizigiyimana and Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza.
The substitutes nearly gave Gor the lead as Otieno fired wide in the 65th minute with his first touch of the ball from inside the area.
Centre Anthony Ogwayo sent off Sempala for a second bookable offence for a high boot.
With 10 minutes to the final whistle, Godfrey Walusimbi – who was brilliant all afternoon – watched haplessly as his shot hit the crossbar, before Muguna was also denied by the woodwork as Gor piled on more pressure on the understrength brewers.
Gor coach was agitated by the officiating and trailed the referee after full time.
“Poor officiating denied us victory. The match official was not equal to the task,” said Ferreira.
Tusker coach George Nsimbe blamed the heavy rains for disrupting their playing pattern.
“We had crafted a winning formula but again we had no control of the weather which made the pitch slippery after it rained heavily,” said Nsimbe.
Awuoro, thooo. and what does Sammy Omollo smoke so that Marcelo wuod Maria can also smoke
?
Dull game devoid of descent chances and goals………the draw is good for the pocket (sportpesa perspective ) but it has costed us pole position in week 6.
Once again is it Ze Maria’s tactics or tiki taktics ?
….ze maria when your predictable 3-5-2 tiki taktics is not working please switch to 4-3-2-1 or even the ruthless 4-5-1 formation of which both we have the depth and quality in offensive midfield to deploy.
Please try those formations in training yajowa !
Very lucky Tusker.Why should the referee start a match under such a heavy downpour?i thought if the match had started it’s okay but players come out the change room under very heavy rain! Somebody teach me. Otherwise first half was soaked in rain and both plaid long balls as the pitch was just uncontrollable. It was balanced in first half. no player stood out other than Wendo and Kagere very aggressive and hard tacklers.Tusker took control in the first 10minutes Of second half with no threats other than those fouls which were taken by Batambuze and a single Were’s header over the bar.Then zimaria withdrew Tuyisenge for Timothy and nizigiyimana for Wafula.The tide changed.There was no more Tusker. They resorted to rough play forcing the referee to issue an overdue red card to their no -13who was being terrorised by Walusimbi. From there Tusker plaid for time. Wafula Innocent took nizigiyimanas position with both hands.He terrorised Asike turning his wing to more of a by-pass and last 30mins Gor camped in tusker area courtesy of Wafula on this side and walusimbi on the other.Tusker started time wasting and just body contacts would result into injury. Kahata in for mugiraneza this were to add punch in the attack after Tusker pushed everybody back desperate for a point. Tusker were the happiest after the final whistle coz they worn 0-0.gor mahia lost. My best players today, Wafula, Wendo, Kagere,mugiraneza and Muguna.Oluoch was rarely on duty. No team in Kenya can stand against gor mahia in an open play.Afraha Stadium was just empty. less than 100people in the V. I. P and hardly 1000 in the whole stadium.EC take our matches to Moi Stadium pliz.Gor should train hard on set pieces.more than 8 corners. At some point I counted 4corners in less than 10mins until I lost track.
We need to be more ruthless in front of goal. Sad to see us lose our beloved top spot!!
Still on the fielding techniques of Ze Maria; Did I hear that Timothy replaced the 4m problem? Now which kind of fielding was that? In a must-win match like this, why must the coach field the tried-and-failed strikers?
Why do we score dismally against teams which later succumb to heavy defeats in the hands of Nzoias and Thikas?
It rained. Yes. But did it only rain on the Gor Mahia half?
I am not satisfied with this result. Period!
hehehe “tried and failed striker”.I see people are seeing that we need a A.Laffor,or a 29 yr old Olunga upfront;basically someone with experience who has no chance of going to Europe and subjecting us to 6months contracts
Am glad to see Innocent Wafula back to the playing unit.He is a valuable and skilled player and my cries have been heard.In a 3-5-2 system he is better than even my man Karim.I didn’t expect a win as such for I knew tusker would deploy all tricks to get off with a draw or hit us with a deserved sucker punch and win it.Plus with our striking inefficiencies there are teams that will remain a tall order to surmount including Mathare…Posta and Bandari but should the striking depth pick we will be unstoppable
Undeserved sucker punch I meant….Sorry for the typo
when Nuttal students were introduced in the second half(Wafula and Kahata)they changed the game and gor almost got a goal. We could see their hunger to score.Since we have many defenders,Karim should give way for Innocent because Karim’s crosses have become predictable and easily intercepted by opponents defenders.Innocent can dribble up to the box and create chances. WE WANT GOALS.
These kind of teams always wake up to play against Gor Mahia. Wanajikaza.
Don’t be surprised if Tusker loses to Nakumatt next week.
Look at the KPL table after matchday 6 and tell me whether Ingwe deserves to sit over us. Now we have a real reason to work hard since the top spot is up for grabs. Any slip-up and Posta will widen the gap.
AFC Leopards sitting pretty on top of us is very difficult to swallow, quite unpalatable, I don’t mind Posta. With all the million + worth of players we have …..ojoga yawa. Ojoga. WE create one excuse after another, eeee thooo
Iwinjo Jamriambo owadwa we have one white elephant problem called lack of goals that is being swept under the carpet citing good display.Ingwe with their mediocre Bossman signings are doing what matters most which is scoring an average of two goals per game ensuring they win matches even against tough opposition.Our forwards on the other hand loose too many chances.They must score sooner rather than later
@jamriambo…Afc are not sitting pretty on top of us.The only reason they are on top of us is because they are ahead of us alphabetically…otherwise we are draw with them on games played..games won..games drawn…goals scored…goals conceded..goal difference and points.Maybe that is the first time in the history of the league for that to happen!!
Having said that,our strikers need to be more clinical.We have arguably the most expensive strike force in kenya…its about time they deliver.We may not concede many but we should be able to outscore our opponents week in week out.
@oswozo, AFC are ahead of us because of a better goal difference. They have a +4 while we have a +3
And this man Fiamenyo of AFC? taking on the defense of opposite teams single handedly is his trade mark. What a striker.
That was tiki tiki. Many excuses will come with it but they live to display it another day.
Thanks @musymo…I stand corrected.i used a bogus site for my reference
The Truth is we dont have a coach. Ze maria has been struggling since he took over Gor mahia.
When we score and win all is alright but when we draw against Tusker the coach is poor. I like the fact that we are not pulling away this early else it will cause tension in the team. By the next leg we will be on top and the likes of Posta and ingwe struggling
Ze maria was complaining about poor officiating(eti only 3 min added).What about the 90 min regular time? This so called coach never fails to get an excuse for mediocrity in performance. Against Bandari let him field wisely and play offensively from the first min and avoid lame excuse at the end for misfiring when other teams are scoring freely.
There is that team from coast province that played very entertaining football, total carpet soccer…..walienda nayo wapi? Carpet, entertaining, 100% possession without goals is blatant barrenness. I miss Okewkanungo and Collins in this blog today. they would have penned it plainly in a lovely language