Gor Mahia wobble as KPL title race gathers steam

Gor Mahia's full back Geoffrey Ochieng (left) tussles for the ball against Western Stima's Vitalice Okumu in a KPL match played in Kisumu. [Washington Onyango, Standard]

Record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia dropped points for the second game in a row further throwing wide open the Premier League race.

K’Ogalo were bidding to recover from a 3-1 annihilation by Sofapaka on Sunday when they visited Western Stima in Moi Stadium, Kisumu, yesterday.

The wobbling champions could only draw 1-1 draw in a controversial match that saw two players sent off.

Gor Mahia were reduced to 10 men after Joash Onyango was shown a straight red card after only 10 minutes of play before Western Stima’s Oromchan Villa received his marching orders in 65th minute.

Clifton Miheso gave Gor the lead in the 48th minute after firing low past Stima’s shots stopper John Mwangi before Villa restored parity with a clever chip past an advancing Boniface Oluoch.

The draw left the defending champions four points clear atop the Kenyan Premier League table ahead of Tusker who have a game in hand and the opportunity to close the gap to a point.

Speaking after the match, Gor head coach Steven Polack said he was disappointed with the results and called upon the players to up their game.

“We were very unlucky to lose Onyango who is a key player in our defence with 80 minutes still to play. The first half was poor from us after failing to attack when we had clear chances of hurting the hosts.”

“However, I’m glad the boys responded well after the break with an early goal. The defence was a little off when Stima equalised but the boys tried. We know what is at stake and we will come back stronger,” the Englishman said.

The match kicked off on a high note with the first chance coming in the third minute when Miheso put through Nicholas Kipkirui who failed to control the ball inside the box.

Seven minutes later, Geoffrey Ochieng collected the ball from his own half sprinting past Stima defence feeding Miheso in the left-wing whose cross failed to find the net with Ochieng heading wide.

Moments later, Stima goalkeeper Mwangi, released teenage striker Benson Omala with a long ball but the striker was brought down 20 yards from goal by Gor’s Joash Onyango who was then shown a red card.

Sydney Ochieng took the resulting free kick but failed to lift the ball past the wall with the ball going out for a corner.

Polack brought in Joachim Oluoch in place of Kipkirui after the red card incident, but the substitution did little to change the course of the game as Stima took control.

Omala, fresh from winning the December player of the month, almost gave Stima the lead with a long looping shot but Oluoch stood tall in goal for Gor.

Fidel Origa and Omala combined from the left-wing but the latter’s cross could not find Origa.

Gor relied on counter-attacks with the numbers proving disadvantageous to them but they would hold on for a goalless first half.

After the restart, Polack introduced Boniface Omondi in place of Samuel Onyango with the substitute immediately making a mark in the game after beating Vitalis Okumu in the left-wing and feeding Kenneth Muguna whose header went wide.

In the 48th minute, Muguna combined with Miheso with the latter beating Mwangi in goal with a simple finish.

The goal changed the match and 10-man Gor Mahia started attacking with flow as Omondi and Miheso kept troubling the Stima defenders in the left and right wings.

However, Stima restored parity in the 65th minute when Villa beat Gor’s offside trap and chipped past Oluoch to level the score at 1-1.

Ten minutes later Villa saw red after a rush challenge on Lawrence Juma . His departure, however, could not change the outcome of the game which ended 1-1 with both teams missing scoring opportunities.

“We played well today. It would have been even better if we could have won the match as we had the advantage over them for the opening 75 minutes. Its a good result and we will build on that to ensure we win our next match,” Stima coach Salim Babu said.

The draw left Stima in seventh place with 32 points