Kahata, Mbish and Joash Onyango in action as Stars win
Kenya Harambee Stars recorded a memorable 1-0 win over Ghana Black Stars on Saturday. In action were the K’ogalo trio of Francis Kahata, Philemon Otieno and Joash Onyango who was sent off.
Additional reporting from the Nation
Nicholas Opoku’s first half own goal helped 10-man Harambee Stars break a 15-year jinx against the Black Stars of Ghana as they edged them 1-0 in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group “F” qualifier at a half-packed Kasarani stadium on Saturday.
Eric Johanna’s speculative right-footed in swinger from the right flank was turned home by defender Opoku under pressure from Michael Olunga as the Kenyans took a shock lead three minutes to the breather.
Gor Mahia defender Joash Onyango was sent off at the hour mark after reckless tackle on Ghana striker Majeed Waris.
Kenya coach Sebastian Migne reacted by sacrificing Eric Johanna for David “Cheche” Ochieng to build a four man defence that had Joackins Atudo, who replaced the injured Philemon Otieno at halftime.
Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah threw into the fray Raphael Dwamena, Harrison Afful and Kwadwo Asamoah for Edwin Gyasi, Ebenezer Ofori and Daniel Opare in search of the equaliser, but the Kenyans stood tall at the back.
Victory for Kenya, only the second against the four-time African champions after 15 years, takes them level on points with Ghana after two rounds of qualifiers, with both sides on three points.
Kenya have back-to-back games against Ethiopia next month, while Ghana will be at home against Sierra Leone, who visit Ethiopia Sunday afternoon in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ovella Ochieng had the first sniff at goal for Kenya five minutes into time beating Daniel Opare with pace, before his hard shot was parried by Richard Ofori in the Ghana post.
Three minutes later, Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey sent wide a free kick outside the box after Musa Mohammed had fouled Majeed Waris.
Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe splashed the first yellow on Aboud Omar for clipping Edwin Gyasi on 25 minutes. Patrick Matasi picked Christian Atsu’s shot as the Ghanaians pushed for the opener.
Both teams were pressing hard whenever they were in possession of the ball with the hosts thumping long balls upfront.
Ismael Gonzalez’s attempt in the 27th minute missed the target by a whisker and two minutes after the half hour mark, Michael Olunga, in a one-on- one with Ofori was unable to find the target with the Maritzburg United custodian doing well to deflect his shot for a fruitless corner.
Migne surprisingly partnered Joash Onyango and Musa Mohammed at the back with Gonzalez benching Anthony Akumu in midfield that also had Sofapaka’s Dennis Odhiambo.
Francis Kahata and Ovella plied on the flanks with Johanna being handed a free role in midfield as Olunga led the front line.
Atsu exchanged passes with Partey to tee up Dwamena in the 72nd minute, but the striker was denied by vigilant Matasi in the Kenyan goal.
Migne introduced Akumu for Dennis Odhiambo as the men in red held on for the famous win.
Congratulations to Harambee Stars for that Historic 1-0 win against much fancied Ghana. The mix of local players and few internationals got it right for us. Our very own Philemon…Joash and Kahata made the starting 11 and to them we are proud and say congrats. To Coach Migne that was a Masterclass defensive performance akin to Athletico Madrid whom we matched toe to toe today. Today we are happy as a footballing nation and proud of our boys…Joash don’t mind the red card…you took one for the team without which Ghana would have equalised for a 1-1 draw
Joash did well to save the team and I don’t want to hear anything like reckless tackling. He made the right decision at the right time by felling Ghanaian striker just outside the penalty area. So if the national team coach can give him the starting role in a big match like that leaving out established defenders like Chechen,then who are you to say that joash is not good. Congratulations harambee stars
Though Ghana had a higher percentage of ball possession, in football it is goals which counts. Congratulations to Harambee Stars
My man of the match is Matasi. He stopped everything thrown at him by the Ghanaians. Football is a cruel sport, Ghanaians had almost 80% of the whole game but could not score, while hii Harambee yenu while playing nothing got all three points!! That performance cannot and I repeat cannot take them anywhere, even all of them know that.
Who Cares About Your Useless Negativity? A Win Is A Win. Form Your Team To Play The Kind Of Football You Fancy.
Congratulations team. The same strategy can be employed on the remaining two home matches, hoping lady luck will be on our side again to fetch us maximum points, then a point for each of the remaining a way matches.
A highly defensive match that subjected them to lots of pressure for an entire ninety plus minutes. I
believe this was due to the quality of the opposing team. Against Ethiopia i would wish a more attack oriented game that will enable players to fully show case their potential. I saw glimpses of the same today but the defensive strategy was actually limiting. All the balls were suppose to find Olunga and luckily we worn the match but the truth is that we lost possession easily and we were unable to build any meaningful move. Bottom line, we worn and that is in the records as we speak….Congrats again, hoping to see an improved side in our next match.
When you are playing a team full of quality players like Ghana, you must defend well to avoid soaking in goals. Those who think that the team did not play well, what did they expect. The strategy worked well for the team and that’s how you win against a team like Ghana. If at all they played the way most people want, we could have lost. And I believe that the team did well. So we shall build that team from there and try to defeat big teams that might come our way. Even anytime we play a team full of quality players like Ghana, then that is the strategy. I heard Jacob ghost mulei also complaining that the team is not attacking the black stars but what he didn’t know is that he is not the coach who instructed the players on how to take on Ghana
Mmmh!Joash angemwacha angefunga..Good work nwei
I personally don’t think that was a strategy, they were actually forced back and found themselves defending. Even the coach acknowledged that the win is meaningless for the team and he added that he doesn’t lie. The result of this match is HS 3 points BS 80%.
Congrats to Harambee stars but only for the first half. What happened in the second half? Joash Onyango needs more concentration in his game. Phillemon was superb but still needs refinement. Kahata was my best player.
But i’m not convinced with this Harambee performance even though I accept that Ghana is a world cup team. Harambee need speed and confidence in their game.
My one comfort is that the Harambee stars victory was very much tied to Gor mahia in one way or another.
But as I said before nothing much has changed in how Kenya handles it soccer business so I donot expect much.
Beat for me Ghana at home or get a draw maybe I will listen. But congrats all the same.
The more you win the the demands grow… ask those Gor players.