Abdoul Fiston fires Sofapaka past battling soldiers at City
Sofapaka striker Abdoul Fiston (second left) leads teammates in celebrating his goal against Ulinzi Stars on May 31, 2015 at City Stadium. Sofapaka won 2-1. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- Deadly Burundian striker scores one goal and plays a direct part in the second.
- Clash moved from waterlogged Ruaraka.
Sofapaka narrowed the gap between them and league leaders Gor Mahia to six points after they put up a gallant fight to beat a determined Ulinzi Stars 2-1 in a thrilling league encounter at the Nairobi City Stadium on Sunday.
In a game that swung from end to end, deadly Burundian forward Abdoul Fiston Razak inspired the Batoto Ba Mungu, notching in the opener in the fifth minute with a firm header from a Danson Kago corner kick, and had a hand in the winning goal.
Ulinzi Stars defender Oliver Ruto deflected Fiston’s hard shot from the left wing into his own net with 10 minutes left on the clock.
The soldiers were second best in the first half but came out guns blazing in the second half inspired by fresh legs of Job Muhati and Oscar Wamalwa who came were brought on after the breather.
Muhati in particular came off the bench to level matters, drilling in fiercely from the box to beat Sofapaka goalie Evariste Mutuyimana but Soafapaka had the final word thanks to Fiston’s tirelessness.
“I’ m happy with the win, it has put us on the track. God has given us what we wanted and we now have to keep fighting,” said Sofapaka coach Sam Timbe after the match.
He added: “(Abdoul) Fiston should have scored many goals because he had many other chances, but I’m not pushing him too hard.”
Initially planned to kick off at 1.30 pm at the Ruaraka Sports Ground, the match started two hours later a different avenue; the Nairobi City Stadium, owing to the vagaries of weather than had rendered the Ruaraka grounds unplayable.
This was a big duel pitting giants and had been earmarked for live television coverage on SuperSport, but the choice of venue was baffling, raising questions why the league body had cleared a ground with no drainage system to host top tier league matches in the first place.
“We can’t blame the defeat on the venue change because we are not the only ones who were affected but Sofapaka too. We had our chances which we did not take,” fiery Ulinzi coach Robert Matano said.
The soldiers could have snatched at least a point but saw their goalkeeper James Saruni miss a penalty kick awarded in the second half.
