Blow for Gor ahead of Petro clash in Angola

Gor Mahia FC's Jacques Tuyisenge control ball during their KPL match against Western Stima at Kasarani stadium on Oct 1, 2017. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Gor Mahia will be without star striker Jacques Tuyisenge when they take on Petro Atletico of Angola in tomorrow’s Confederations Cup group ‘D’.

The Rwandese together with defender Philemon Otieno are both suspended for the match due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Tuyisenge’s absence will be greatly felt considering his performance against Zamalek in the first match of the qualifiers as he scored twice during Gor Mahia’s 4-2 win.

In his absence Dennis Oliech is likely to start against the Angolans as Gor Mahia look to take charge of the group.

Oliech missed Saturday’s derby due to an injury, but has recovered on time to travel with Gor Mahia.

Gor Mahia coach Hassan Oktya has downplayed the absence of the two players insisting those who will get a chance must give their best.

“At Gor Mahia, all players are equal and should be ready to play when called upon,” he said.

Gor Mahia did cope well at the back following an earlier suspension of Haroun Shakava and Joash Onyango.

Their place was taken by Joachim Oluoch and Charles Momanyi whom Oktay praised for stepping into the big gap.

“In four matches playing together, they have conceded just one goal and that makes their partnership impressive,” added Oktay.

Striker Dennis Oliech said the team must fight for a positive result in Angola to keep up the momentum built from the last win.

“We did very well against Zamalek and everyone is motivated going into our next fixture. This being a league, every match counts and victory in Angola will be very positive for us,” said Oliech who scored the fourth goal against Zamalek.

The Angolans will be looking for their first win in the campaign after going down 2-1 in the first match against Algerian club NA Hussein Dey.

In the other group ‘D’ fixture Zamalek will host Hussein Dey at home hoping to pick their first win.

Zamalek coach Christian Gross said after his side went down to Gor Mahia that it was too early to rule out his team from progressing to the quarter-finals.

Gross, who admitted that Gor Mahia were a better side rued poor defending by his side and said they will seek to do better in the second match.

“We started very well and that early goal gave us a great advantage. After that we defended badly and were poor upfront. Gor Mahia deserved to win. However, it is too early to rule us out from anything,” he said.

A contingent of 18 players, five technical staff, three club officials and one Football Kenya Federation (FKF) representative will travel today afternoon.