Sofapaka take lead as Gor edge KCB at City Stadium

By Bosco Magare, Gilbert Wandera and Francis Ontomwa

Sofapaka hit Muhoroni Youth 2-0 to dislodge AFC Leopards from the Kenyan Premier League’s top position.

The former league champions embarked on the match on a serious note, notching the opener in the 10th minute through Mike Baraza following a goalmouth scramble. Sofapaka piled pressure, adding a second goal in the 27th minute through player of the match Baraza.

Muhoroni Youth fought back in vain during the second half with Geoffrey Simiyu and Victor Amata dominating for the hosts amid fans protests over team management.

Former Congo United midfielder Rama Salim is paying back the huge transfer fee to Gor Mahia at the beginning of the year.

Salim, who until the appointment of Croatian Zdravko Logarusic remained just a fringe player again, paid back the coach’s confidence in him with two goals which sunk KCB 3-2 in high scoring Kenyan Premier League (KPL) match at the Nairobi City Stadium, yesterday.

However, it was George Midenyo who joined Gor from Tusker this season who opened the scores for the winners from a free-kick on the edge of KCB’s box in the 16th minute.

The free-kick was awarded after Dennis Omondi handled the ball just outside the box in an attempt to clear the goal-bound shot.

Salim scored his first goal in the 51st minute and his second with nine minutes to go, but after danger man Paul Mungai had converted a penalty for the bankers. Ezekiel Odera, who was formerly at Gor, scored against his former club in the 84th minute.

Salim also scored last weekend when Gor narrowly beat Chemelil Sugar and takes his tally to three goals in two matches.

KCB fought hard after conceding the first goal and should have been back in the match quickly with danger man Paul Mungai missing to level the after being stopped by Jerim Onyango in the 20th minute.

The match became lively in the second half, but Salim stood out in the midfield where he won most of the balls and created many chances.  His combination with Baldwin Ngwa enabled him to score his first goal.

It was Gor’s second win in a row, pushing their points tally to 19.

In Kakamega, Nairobi City Stars conjured another major upset as they drowned Western Stima 1-0 in thrilling KPL match at Bukhungu.

Levy Muaka’s goal in the 44th minute made all the difference for the city side to support their quest to escape the dreaded drop zone.

Muaka unleashed a 25-yard thunderous shot that beat Stima’s keeper Benroberts Mandela easily, to give Stars the victory.

Three minutes to stoppage time, Muaka was on spot again, but this time for the wrong reasons as he was given marching orders by the centre referee for arguing with him.