Nzoia sound warning shot to the big boys
What you need to know:
- Nzoia Sugar made a triumphant return to the Kenyan Premier League after 14 years on Saturday with a 5-2 drubbing of champions Tusker, sounding a loud warning shot to the big boys that they are not in the competition to make up the numbers.
- The 2016 National Super League champions Nzoia Sugar scored through Elvis Rupia, Boniface Omondi, Brian Otieno and former AFC Leopards defender Edwin Wafula while Noah Wafula and Ugandan utility Shaffique Batambuze scored for Tusker.
- It was a dream start of life in the top-flight league for 21-year-old Brian Otieno who scored Nzoia Sugar’s third goal in the 52nd minute following a well-weighted corner kick by his team mate Hillary Wandera.
Nzoia Sugar made a triumphant return to the Kenyan Premier League after 14 years on Saturday with a 5-2 drubbing of champions Tusker, sounding a loud warning shot to the big boys that they are not in the competition to make up the numbers.
The 2016 National Super League champions Nzoia Sugar scored through Elvis Rupia, Boniface Omondi, Brian Otieno and former AFC Leopards defender Edwin Wafula while Noah Wafula and Ugandan utility Shaffique Batambuze scored for Tusker.
It was a dream start of life in the top-flight league for 21-year-old Brian Otieno who scored Nzoia Sugar’s third goal in the 52nd minute following a well-weighted corner kick by his team mate Hillary Wandera.
In the 64th minute, Otieno completed his double when he scored his team’s fourth goal following a goalmouth melee.
“I dedicate this two goals to my dad Pancreas Odera and mum Jenifer Wekhulu as they are my number one fans,” said Otieno after the match.
It was a poor start for Tusker who also lost the KPL Super Cup 1-0 to Gor Mahia a week ago and were dumped out of the Caf Champions League.
Coach George Nsimbe, subdued all afternoon, admitted that his team had been outclassed and outwitted. He said: “To concede three goals from set pieces is quite abnormal. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong for us. We needed to win the game but my players were overwhelmed especially defensively but we have a chance to improve.”
Perhaps keen to avoid the fate that befell Tusker, Gor Mahia displayed total dominance over newly-promoted Kairobangi Sharks, winning 3-1 on Sunday in Thika.
Coach Marcelo Ferreira stuck to his experimental 3-5-2 formation that had only Wellington Ochieng, Musa Mohammed and Harun Shakava taking charge of defence, as last season’s right back Karim Nizigiyimana pushed forwards to join hands with the midfield quintet of Ernest Wendo, Kenneth Muguna, Godfrey Walusimbi and JeanBaptiste Mugiraneza.
The Brazilian coach is never one to put up with a disruptive influence, and it was no surprise to see Collins Okoth missing from the line-up after his dressing room burst up early last month.
JeanBaptiste, the Rwandan national team captain, grabbed his first goal in the SportPesa Premier League as Jacques Tuyisenge and Harun Shakava clinched one each to set the 15-time champions on a brilliant start in the 2017 season.
Sharks began with a flurry that saw Ibrahim Kitawi threaten Gor goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch at close range in the third minute, but this became only one of the few chances they created in the match.
Their strategy to keep attack at the bare minimum in the first half could have worked on the day, but their coach William Muluya admitted in a televised interview that his boys took too much time to settle in the game.
Ze Maria said: “We are here to win games. We have no other task. Congratulations to my team, I think they played extremely well today. All the other teams when they play against Gor Mahia they want to run, run and ruin, and that is why we did a lot of endurance training in preseason”.
