Five talking points from the FKF Premier League MD26
22nd April 2024
Matchday 26 saw Gor Mahia get the derby bragging rights against perennial rivals AFC Leopards.
- Gor Mahia managed to extend their lead at the top of the FKFPL table to 57 points.
- K’Ogalo now have a nine-point lead with seven games remaining.
- Kenya Police's Tito Okello scored two goals to tie with Benson Omalla on 12 goals.
Matchday 26 of the Kenyan Premier League served us with the
second installment of the Mashemeji Derby this season as rivals Gor Mahia and
AFC Leopards clashed at the Nyayo Stadium.
Fans from both teams flooded the stadium and not even the
likelihood of a heavy downpour had anyone leaving the match which was played on
a knife edge following an early red card.
Here are the five talking points from the weekend.
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Derby
delight for Gor Mahia
The biggest
match of the weekend, the Mashemeji Derby, didn’t disappoint. And it was
another day for Gor Mahia fans to banter their AFC Leopards counterparts as
Austin Odhiambo’s first-half strike handed the points and bragging rights to
the league leaders.
Leopards
went into the match feeling quite confident, and rightly so. They had lost only
once in their previous 13 meetings, conceding a mere three goals in the
process. I can’t remember the last time they went into a derby in such fine
form.
Their fans,
sitting at the away end, outnumbered and even seemed to bully the hosts’ fans
but that was until the half-hour mark when old boy Odhiambo capitalized on a
goalkeeping howler from Levis Opiyo to score what would be the only goal of the
match.
Leopards
were given a perfect opportunity to draw level and even win the match following
the dismissal of Gor Mahia keeper Kevin Omondi after 35 minutes.
However,
while they threatened more after the red card, they failed to give any big test
to replacement keeper Caleb Omondi who made his derby debut and passed with
flying colours.
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Leopards
Sofapaka
looking nervously over their shoulders in battle to stay up
With just
seven matches before the season folds, nothing is decided yet and won’t be any
time soon if you are talking about the tail end of the table.
Nzoia
Sugar’s race in the topflight looks run but the battle for which other team
will join them in the National Super League next season rumbles on.
Shabana
currently occupy the 17th position which also ensures automatic
relegation but they are only a point adrift of Muhoroni Youth who are in the
relegation-promotion playoff spot. Those two you reckon will be thereabouts
over the next couple of weeks but theirs is the risk that Sofapaka, who are
only two points clear of safety, could be dragged into the mix.
Batoto
ba Mungu are
winless over their last seven matches and have a tough run-in which includes
matches against Shabana, free-scoring Kariobangi Sharks, title-chasing Gor
Mahia and away trips to Nairobi City Stars and Bandari.
With belief running through the veins of Shabana, and Muhoroni boss Moses Adagala swearing that his team is pushing for a top ten finish, you can’t help but worry for 2009 champions Sofapaka.
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Lightning
strikes twice for Opiyo
Back to the
derby, it was a case of deja vu for AFC Leopards goalkeeper Levis Opiyo as his
error ended up being the decisive moment of the game. Of course, the blame will
fall on the keeper after taking one too many touches on the ball but the pass
from Kennedy Owino with two Gor Mahia players pressing inside the box would put
any keeper under pressure.
Opiyo
buckled and conceded a goal that will not do him any favors in his love-hate
relationship with the Ingwe faithful.
The former
Wazito FC keeper can excite and frustrate in equal measure but this season,
there’s been more of the latter as he has helped Leopards keep the second
meanest defence in the league, coincidentally behind Gor Mahia.
But
football is an unfair game. You can be a cult hero this minute and a total
villain the next. For goalkeepers who happen to be the last line of defence,
that swing can happen pretty quickly as Opiyo learnt in this game.
His error
had many fans and pundits scouring for archive footage of the same mistake that
cost Leopards the Madaraka Cup title in 2022.
The
similarities were there, the pain, unendurable even though you may make a case
for the men ahead of the keeper failing to beat ten men for nearly an hour.
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Barthes Cup
Okello
draws level in Golden Boot race
Benson
Omalla worked his socks off for Gor Mahia after they were reduced to 10 men in
the derby.
As often is
the case, a forward player, Musa Masika being the unlucky one, had to be
withdrawn early following the straight red card shown to keeper Kevin Omondi
for denying Leopards striker Victor Omune a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Gor had
been in total control of the match but the red card tipped the level in favour
of the visitors. It meant that they had to try to consolidate what they had, a
1-0 advantage. Consolidation also meant that Omalla was rarely having touches
in the opposition box which is the last thing you want as a striker chasing for
Golden Boot honors.
His rivals,
and especially Tito Okello, took maximum advantage. The South Sudan and Police
FC striker was on penalty-taking duties, which came in twos, in the 2-1 success
over Sofapaka.
Thomas
Kakaire gave Sofapaka the lead at the quarter-hour mark but Okello’s twin
penalties on either side of halftime gave Police the win.
It was his
11th and 12th goals of the season which puts
him level with Omalla who endured a barren weekend.
Two-time Golden
Boot winner, Eric Kapaito kept himself in the conversation with his 10th goal
of the season which earned Tusker a 1-0 success at Ulinzi Stars. You expect
those three to keep pushing each other until the end of the season.
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clobber doomed Nzoia
City
Stars loading a strong finish
Nairobi
City Stars look like they have moved on swiftly from the controversies that led
to their defeat against Muhoroni Youth a fortnight ago. Their response has been
emphatic and full of goals.
They put
three unanswered goals past Murang’a Seal in the immediate game after Muhoroni
and were just as generous to the detriment of Talanta FC this weekend.
Dennis
Oalo, who scored the second against Murang’a, got them going at Talanta FC with
Elvis Noor and Mohammed Omar also scoring to wrap up the points.
Simba Wa Nairobi had looked like title contenders early in the season but a string of inconsistent results saw them lose their way but they are setting themselves up nicely for a top three finish.
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