Rangers beat Mathare in a five goal-duel
Mathare United came near yet so far to easing their relegation worries in the Kenya Premier League in a 3-2 defeat by Posta Rangers at Kasarani Annex yesterday.
Surprisingly, it was Mathare, who are gracing the basement of the league, who took the lead in the 26th minute through a penalty conversion by Kevin Ochieng following an infringement inside the box.
Rangers surged forward in search of the equaliser which duly came in the 49th minute when Timothy Otieno found acres of space to slam the ball at the back of the net.
In the 53rd minute, Jackson Dwang’ gave Rangers the lead with the second goal before Donald Ange replied for Mathare in the 70th minute.
As the match wore on, loose marking by Mathare saw the ‘slum boys’ suffer a heartbreak when Benjamin Otieno scored Rangers’ winning goal from a half chance in the 81st minute.
At Thika Stadium, Kakamega Homeboyz condemned Ulinzi Stars to a 1-0 defeat with Brian Eshihanda netting the lone goal in the 16th minute.
In Mombasa, Harambee Stars midfielder Abdallah Hassan’s 45th minute goal made the difference as Bandari edged Nairobi City Stars 1-0.
During the early exchanges of the tense game, there were no significant shots towards goal by either team with scoring chances few and far between.
Bright moment
But gradually, the proceedings livened up with Abdallah producing something extraordinary in the 11th minute but came short of beating Mathare’s goalkeeper.
Bandari, who were going into the fixture by beating Kakamega Homeboyz, were ruthless midway through the match but wasted a couple of scoring chances.
The dockers Technical Director Twahir Muhiddin said the victory was an inspiration to perform even better in the upcoming fixtures.
“The chemistry within our defenders was the contributory factor for us to prevail over Homeboyz the previous week. Of course, we have a lot to do to catch up with the leading pack and as such, it would be utterly improper of us to be carried away by the win over City Stars,” offered Muhiddin.
Meanwhile, at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega, league leaders Kakamega Homeboyz cruised to a 1-0 win over Vihiga Bullets in an Ingo Derby.
Brian Eshihanda scored the lone goal in the 16th minute from an opportunist strike.
The league takes a two-week break from this weekend to pave way for the world’s football governing body, FIFA calendar where several friendly matches are lined up across the world.
However, Kenya will not participate in the friendlies after being indefinitely suspended by FIFA for alleged government interference of football matters which is against its statutes.
