Going gets tough for Mathare United
What you need to know:
- Mathare United’s poor run in the SportPesa Premier League continued at the weekend, the ‘Slum Boys’ staying winless for a ninth straight match on Saturday.
- The last minute penalty, awarded by referee Nyabera Libese at the Mumias Sports Complex irked Mathare players and members of the team’s technical bench, and they protested vehemently during and after the game.
- Meanwhile, Gor Mahia are back at the summit of the table with a game at hand, and will play Nakumatt on Wednesday in Nairobi.
Mathare United’s poor run in the SportPesa Premier League continued at the weekend, the ‘Slum Boys’ staying winless for a ninth straight match on Saturday.
What was to be a final push to hoist the ‘Slum Boys’ from the bottom of the league standings on Saturday ended in disarray, as an 88th minute penalty awarded to Kakamega Homeboyz cancelled out a 1-0 lead Mathare had built and protected throughout.
“We have not won games for so long, and when that happens is, the players start approaching every game as if they are going to lose. There is that psychological fear of losing, Mathare United coach Francis Kimanzi said on Monday.
“This kind of run obviously hurts very much and the players are not confident at all but they tried to create chances (against Homeboyz). Getting a draw away is not bad. We have not lost in the last four games so we hope to perform well in our next fixtures. Our position in the league will change very soon,” Kimanzi added.
With 17th-placed Thika United having drawn 0-0 with Chemelil Sugar, three points would have taken Mathare out of the relegation zone and even up to 15th position on the log ahead of both Thika and Muhoroni Youth.
The last minute penalty, awarded by referee Nyabera Libese at the Mumias Sports Complex irked Mathare players and members of the team’s technical bench, and they protested vehemently during and after the game.
“Biased officiating by Nyabera Libese denied the lads maximum points at the Mumias Complex in a Round 17 match against Kakamega Homeboyz that ended in a one all draw. A point on the road is better than nothing in the end,” a statement posted by the team on social media read.
Before Saturday’s match, Mathare had celebrated victory only twice in 17 games.
Not since their promotion into the premier league in 1999 has the team endured a run as poor as this and interestingly, it comes 20 years after their triumphant victory in the Moi Golden Cup that earned them a place in the Kenyan top-flight league.
Yet Mathare is the only Kenyan team that has different sponsors - one for their team shirt and another for their shorts. What’s more, they are being handled by one of Kenya’s best trained coaches in Kimanzi).
Meanwhile, Gor Mahia are back at the summit of the table with a game at hand, and will play Nakumatt on Wednesday in Nairobi.
