Gor Mahia floor Tusker to reach Top 8 finals
A double from Michael Olunga is what Gor Mahia needed to dismiss Tusker FC from the KPL Top 8, advance to the final and keep their hopes of a quadruple title run alive. Gor Mahia won 2-1 thus eliminating Tusker 4-3 on aggregate.
Report courtesy of goal.com
K’Ogalo, who are chasing for a treble after being crowned league champions on Sunday, needed a comeback double to book a final date with Sony
Gor Mahia will now face Sony Sugar in the final of Kenyan Premier League Top 8 after they bundled out defending champions Tusker on Wednesday night.
K’Ogalo, who are chasing for a treble this season after being crowned league champions on Sunday, needed a comeback double from towering striker Michael Olunga to silence the brewers’, who had taken an early lead through Kevin Kimani.
Sony Sugar had earlier qualified for their first ever final of the knock out competition after eliminating Sofapaka on 5-3 aggregate at the same venue. Tusker under coach Leonard Odipo, were clearly the more determined side coming into the match and did everything to get an early goal.
A ninth minute goal by Kevin Kimani was proof of their determination. But Tusker always looked into trouble when Clifford Alwanga was cautioned in the 25th minute and was eventually sent off in the 38th minute by center referee Amos Ichungwa.
This was always going to work against Tusker in the second half as Gor Mahia started strongly and put their opponents under intense pressure as they searched for the equalizer. An in swinger from Ali Abondo in the 47th minute was kept out well by Martin Musalia in Tusker’s goal. But Gor Mahia’s pressure was always going to work and it did eight minutes after resumption.
Karim Nizigiyimana, who has been impressive with his assists, picked out Godfrey Walusimbi with a laid cross which the Ugandan headed into the path of Michael Olunga. Olunga with a predator’s instinct turned and beat Martin Musalia with a low shot to equalize.
Tusker stand in coach Leonard Odipo was forced to pull out Lloyd Wahome after the defender got injured and his place was taken by Ugandan Ronald Musana. The change created some problems for the Tusker coach, who had to juggle around his men at the back and was forced to assign Fredrick Onyango a new role as a stopper.
Jesse Were the league’s top scorer had his effort go just wide but it was the brewers who were still under a lot of pressure as they struggled to hold the ball for long periods of time. Tough tackling Collin ‘Gattuso’ Okoth was cautioned as Gor Mahia were forced to make mistakes in their own half.
Tusker were right to complain about a free-kick awarded to Gor Mahia in the 70th minute as James Situma was judged to have brought down Michael Olunga though the Tusker defender looked to have got the ball. A defensive blunder by Tusker allowed Olunga to score his second goal and with it helped his side to make it to the final
Amazing to have floored Tusker 3 times this year – I am really enjoying this ride. As always, all glory starts and stops with the Almighty so we thank God for this amazing season as we head to the final sprints.
Congratulations to the champions!! You showed great character and it was a deserved victory. To the cry babies,Gor mahia will be in Kisumu to play in the final.Deal with it!!.It’s the truth.You jst hv to accept and move on.
Congratulations to the champions for a deserved victory.To the cry babies,Gor mahia will be in Kisumu for the final. Deal with it!!.You jst hv to accept and move on.
Walusimbi is a top notch player he comes n olunga scores two goals from walu assists. Were it not their injuries both to walu n sibomana olunga could be ve hit 30 goals. Olunga just be brave n ignore some fans who are mean n jealous they don’t think about your future prospects just advising u to stay at gormahia. Imagine some players from Mauritius n Mauritania ply their football in 1.2.3.4 division in France irrespective of world rankings of this countries. Its not a must you start with a big club in France.belgium.scotland.wales.england. So long as u are in Europe u can work hard n get noticed this is how wanyama struggled to the top where is in now rem you are at prime age n please make money. Football career is short
Olunga has a degree course to complete and he has said just as much. Let him be guided by reality in life, otherwise the rest of us are just giving our opinions.
well done boyz!!u are de baddest!!
I do not think Gor deserved to win this match, however I still blame Tusker for throwing away the match by the unnecessary red card. Gor showed there panicky state in the first half, if Tusker players had any brains they shud have simply taken advantage of the situation.The ref also left the game to degenerate b4 taking action. Collins shud have been carded match earlier n even sent off. Certain Gor players have time and again shown that they cannot handle pressure, any gud opposing coach shud have identified these players and taken advantage. Olunga goals were classic. If Gor continues with such performance then they face early elimination from Africa champions. They only came to life when Tusker went one man down. This team needs to learn how to handle pressure n change tact accordingly. Abondo et Collins r gud playerd but luck intelligence in their game. Collins cannot differentiate between hard tackles n big headedness. In kpl league, his antics might find favor but in Africa they will be costly to the team.
Poor Dinga, please think! ”You Reap What You Sow!” To be sincere, even eugene asike woud have been sent off. It’s just that the ref was linient on him. And for your information, Gor could have eliminated Tusker even if Alwanga had stayed for the whole 90 minutes. This was a different squad from the one that drew 2-2 with Tusker. If Alwanga knew that he was on a yellow card, he would have been that cautious not to a victim at all costs! Mighty Gor Mahia Fc was much more dsciplined and patient compared to Tusker. Tusker lost the game when they started playing rough. With the first eleven of Gor Mahia we can beat Tusker again and again! The idea behind Gor Mahia Fc Excellent run in all the competitions this year are:-It used a lot of money to sign the best players! The likes of Karim Nizigimana, Kagere, Walusimbi, Michael Olunga and Bonface Oluoch, Aucho ,Wafula. Gor has the best quality Coach who is the highest paid coach in SPL. It is Gor that pays players highest in SPL. It’s only Gor that has most diehard -fans and supporters. Gor does not have a sponsor! All the above factors made Gor Mahia Fc to be where it is today.
Good recovery by the team.Ichingwa as usual destroyed an entertaining game.As a fan of this derby its now up to next season.For Sony game Gor wins hands down.Ichingwa was without a doubt man of the match
Well done Gor Mahia. Congratulations.
@dinga and @moses, do you guys know football or you are just pundits that yapp like Selena, ghost, salim etc without knowing the game plans of Gor Mahia and Coach Nuttal? Have you guys been following Gor Mahia game plans, tactical prowess and game patterns in the second halves. Tusker were good in first half as it remain a team that can only play well in the first half. However if you can look back in our match played in Kisumu and in most of our matches, Gor Mahia normally comes live and strong in the second halves. These are facts and please think before you post.
Nuttal game plans normally changes in the second halves and this is how he has outwitted the local coaches in KPL. Gor could have still won the match without the red card being dished out to Tusker. Unless we fans want be the referee as Ichingwa was right there where Alangwa committed the fool. You can not kick the head of an opponent for the purpose of winning the ball. The referee was right for the red card. Players have to show case a high level of discipline while playing in such high octave matches as one mistake can cause the team to suffer the consequences of indiscipline.
@dinga and @moses, who has told you guys that matches are won in the first 45 minutes. Both team had 90 minutes and had equal opportunities too. You can not just make a conclusion that Tusker could have won the game after 90 minutes. These are comments well known with the ingwe fans.
KPL Nairobi, Top 8 Kisumu ba GiTv je? Machakos ama?
KPL TITLE – NAIROBI, TOP 8 TITILE – KISUMU, GOTV TITLE – MACHAKOS.
LETS SPREAD THE MAYIENGA SYNDROME ACROSS THE COUNTRY !!!!!
@dinga, please be considerate to the fact that GM played 72 hours ago and 7 marches in 18 days and fatigue normally crope in. You could see the way Gor players were loosing possession easily, miss passes and poor ball control unusually of them. To some extend I can agree with you that Tusker lost through their own carelessness if they they couldn’t notice Gors` panicky defense,
Ichingwa himself has said that Alwanga had abused him initially after being yellow-carded using unprintable words,a fact confirmed by both Tusker players & their TB as unsporting.So for those crying foul over the referees decision know it was called for.For the general result,Gor Mahia’s prowess when wounded or looking for a goal has been consistent since Nuttal took charge.His tactical approach & especially in the second halves have been a thorn for many teams this season.Gor was obviously going to win the match.
@Jamigori if you really watched the game, Aucho was not hit on the head.Alwanga’s leg touched Aucho’s shoulder.You know once the ref constantly blows the whistle to one side’s favour the players simply loose their heads;its human.Jamigori note that biased ref can make offended players to resort to rough play since they know they can’t win fairly.Now rough play like that on Olunga;if you are a true Gor fan is very dangerous.Think about that
Roughness of Tusker led to the red card. Otherwise if referee did not do this, we could have had lots of injuries. You have said Tusker lost due to their carelessness. High boot was red/yellow card offence and Tusker players deserved the cards. Their challenges were uncalled for.
On the high boot on Aucho by Alwanga, supposed the boot hit Aucho’s eye or nose? The intention was very bad and all players have responsibilities to remain calm and discipline. All the cards to Tusker players were well deserved as sometimes their players had also confrontations with the referee. Why should players surround redress all the times? This is indiscipline. What about several fouls on Olunga and Kagere? Were those fouls committed by Gor Mahia players against Gor Mahia players? Gattuso warn balls most of the time and these could be attributed by the environment caused by Tusker players.
Fans are behaving like Selebwa, Salim, Chiko and Ghost on their posting in this site and this need to be stopped.
Do you still believe Tusker was better than Gor Mahia through out the game as @Dinga is alluding to?
Second half, as usual Gor Mahia outperformed Tusker in all departments. Let us mirror the last two matches against both in Kisumu and Nyayo, the champion was the better team and deserved to win both matches.
A good team can still win with ten players. AFC beat Sofapaka with ten players. Tusker came to the match with a fix mind. To play rough like Ulinzi and not to let gor play their game. In the second half tusker played better and they almost equalised.
MINE TODAY IS TO CONGRATULATE THE BOYS FOR GOOD WORK AND DISCIPLINE THEY SHOWED ON THE PITCH. ALWANGA WAS RED-CARDED FOR ABUSING THE REFEREE. SOME BLOGERS JUST THINKING THAT PLAY IN EUROPE IS THE SOLUTION? IF YOU ARE REALY SUPPORTER OF GOR MAHIA K’OGALO YOU SHOULD WISH THE WHOLE SQUADE TO REMAIN AS THEY ARE FOR CLUB CHAPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR? OLUNGA MIKE DID PROVE TO JESSE WERE ” THAT HE’S THE RED HOT NOT WERE”. THANKS GUYS AND GOOD DAY!.
@dinga….wether Tusker deserved to win or not who is in the final?So shut up coz Tusker had the whole 90+ minutes to score and they didn’t let them go home cupless we don’t care about what happened.
I stayed infront of my TV to listen to the post match interviews of the two managers especially Mr. Odipo. When asked if the red card was deserved he said he will to see the replay before making a comment. He added that decision making is purely the work of the referee good or bad as the case may be. To those yepping that Kogalo’s win was aided by the official’s confusion, you need to realise thay the First person to congratulate Gor was the Tusker manager himself. Secondly, refs do not have the benefit of replays like we do-I mean the Sofaset branch members. Thirdly these officials make split second decisions and therefore mistakes do happen. Mr. Ichingwa was behind both players and he punished Alwanga, I believe, for the high boot. The question is not whether he caught Aucho or not. If Odipo himself could not comment and he was by the touchline and,therefore had a better view, how then do you claim to have seen it batter and hence know better?
It seems Olunga might go to SouthAfrica.Which player can be his best replacement?
Johana Omollo of Mathare can be a good addition.Jimmy Bageya can also be good if only he improves on discipline.
JOHANA ERICK IS A MIDFIELDER, WE TWEEN ENGEEN BOTH KHALID AUCHO & OKOTH COLYMORE, THEN THERE’S ERICO OCHIENG, WENDO WHY ANOTHER MIDFIELDER? JIMY BAGEYA EVEN IF HE’S INDISCIPLINE PLAYERS , PEOPLE USED TO BELIVE THAT COLLINS OKOTH IS INDISCIPLINE, NOWADAYS IS MOST LOYAL PLAYER, EVEN JIMMY CAN ALSO CHANGE? WHAT OF THIS YOUNG STAR MASTER, BONIFACE AKENGA, FEW STRIKERS REMAIN WITH GOAL-KEEPER AND SCORE. I ASK THE TB WATCH OVER THE MATCH BETWEEN NKR ALLSTARS& KCB, HE DID SCORE THREE GOALS IN ONE MATCH?