City Stars topple Stima in NSL tie
Nairobi City Stars have signalled intent in their mission to return to the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) following a standout 2-1 win over fellow contenders Nairobi Stima at Karuturi Grounds yesterday.
That the win came against their immediate rivals and opened an eight-point gap was even juicier for the slum boys who were relegated from the top tier in 2015. Goals from ex-Gor Mahia and Sofapaka left back Wesley Onguso and Davis Agesa were enough to earn Sanjin Alagic’s charges the full points on the day at a titanic match in Naivasha to get to 25 points.
Victor Omune was the scorer of the lone goal for Stima who are still stuck on 17 points and had centre back Shela Mandela sent off for a poor tackle. Coach Leonard Odipo for Stima expressed dissatisfaction with the call arguing it changed the match.
“We were dominating well in the game but things changed in the second half when inside only five minutes a flimsy red card was shown by the referee thus affecting our momentum also showed a couple of unnecessary cards. However we should have won if we also scored two penalties awarded to us.”
Meanwhile, the recent miseries that have compounded Kenya Police and Coast Stima changed with convincing wins yesterday. Both have had a poor streak lately in a championship that can at times be unforgiving.
Kenya Police utilised their home ground advantage at Karuturi to beat 14th placed Modern Coast 2-0 courtesy of first half goals by Alvin Odoyo and Clinton Kinanga.
The win pushes Charles Omondi’s side to only 16th in their bid to escape the relegation red spot. Coast Stima on their part had a torrid start in the beginning of the season but got a second win consecutively with a 2-0 win over Administration Police at Camp Toyoyo.
“We have worked hard over the weeks and I have picked so many positives in this team. It is a building process and we will keep improving. I have faith in the players and each game for us will count,” said coach Paul Ogai on his fourth win in nine matches.
