City Stars hope to upset Gor Mahia in bid to evade relegation

Gor’s midfielder Francis Kahata(left) and Calvin Masawa of City Stars in action during a past league match. [PHOTO/BONIFACE OKENDO]

The second leg of the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) has thrown up some unexpected results as relegation-threatened and average teams refuse to go down easily.

Nairobi City Stars have been one of these teams and most agree that had they played this way in the first leg, they probably would not be fighting off the relegation tag.

The Kawangware-based side face KPL champions Gor Mahia tomorrow and hope to pick their first win in the second leg.

Nairobi City Stars goalkeeper Ronnie Kagunzi says they are determined to pick all three points.

The Kawangware side has picked three draws against Ulinzi Stars, Posta Rangers and Muhoroni Youth despite a good show on the pitch.

Kagunzi believes they will draw inspiration from their performance in all those three matches and hopes this can push them past a Gor Mahia side that is under pressure after drawing two matches in a row.

“For us, it’s something we have worked on. Our technical play has not come easy but as a result of effort in training.

“The the aim now is to win the match and that is what we want. To work hard and get victory,” he told the club’s website.

Gor Mahia coach Jose Marcelo admitted that he is getting concerned with the team’s performance and could be forced to make some changes against City Stars.

“There seems to be a problem with the team in terms of synergy and co-ordination and to be honest, it is a concern not just for me but even for the players themselves. I have talked to them individually to get their points of view and perhaps we shall need to change a few things in the squad,” he told kpl.co.ke.

Another man who is struggling to pick results in the second leg of the league is Ulinzi Stars coach Robert Matano and he has challenged his boys to work harder when they host Ushuru tomorrow.

Two losses and a draw have pushed the soldiers to fourth spot on the log from second. The soldiers lost to Tusker and Mathare United and were held to a 1-1 tie by City Stars last weekend.

“It was a bad day for us. We lost our rhythm and concentration,” coach Matano said of last weekend’s draw.

“We have to work hard. Of course we have to be worried. We are not scoring, we are not winning. We will improve but in the remaining matches we have to play well, nothing more, nothing less. We have to wake up. There’s no miracles, just working hard.”

 

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