Harambee Stars thrashed 3-0 in Morocco

Harambee Stars succumbed to their second successive defeat in under two months after they were mauled 3-0 by Morocco’s Atlas Lions on Monday night in a friendly match in Marrakech.

This was Bobby Williamson’s second match in charge since he took over the reins of the team three months ago from the disgraced Belgian Adel Amrouche.

The defeat means that the Scotsman, who formerly coached Kenyan Premier League giants Gor Mahia, will have to wait a little longer before he earns a win even as he continues with his mission of building a formidable side for the future.

The soft-spoken Scot will be jolted into action after Monday's capitulation as he seeks a solution for his porous defence, which failed to withstand the pressure from the marauding hosts, conceding three goals in the last 15 minutes.

TIRED LEGS

Williamson’s boys had done well to limit the threat posed by the Badou Ezzaki-coached side for large spells of the game, but tired legs gave in to the pressure.

Karnass El Mehdi opened the hosts’ account in the 77th minute, before Mbark Boussoufa widened the advantage from the spot with four minutes left and Mouhcine Lajour was at hand to hit the last nail in the coffin in stoppage time.

In his new-look outfit, Williamson elected to start with Arnold Origi in goal, AFC Leopards's Edwin Wafula and Tusker’s Aboud Omar in right and left-back positions, respectively, while the indefatigable Gor Mahia man David ‘Calabar’ Owino partnered Leopards's stalwart Jackson Saleh at the heart of the defence.

SLUGGISH DEFENDING

Luck ran out on them in the last quarter of the game when the opposition piled pressure with endless barrages of attacks.

Speaking to Al Khabar, a Moroccan daily, after the contest, Williamson blamed the stinging defeat on sluggish defending.

“We paid a heavy price for poor defending, the marking was not good and the concentration was low. We could have had something from the game, but it’s unfortunate. We gave away a cheap penalty for their second goal and it was hard to recover after that,” he complained.

Stars were without two strikers in Allan Wanga (El-Merreikh, Sudan) and Timothy Otieno (Gor Mahia ), who were ruled out with club commitments and illness, respectively.

In their absence, Belgium-based Ayub Timbe, Danson Kago and the speedy Noah Wafula were given runs and the coach will be keen to assess their input as he builds a coherent squad ahead of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup that will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December.