Relentless Gor Mahia stay in touch

Champions Gor Mahia piled more pressure on SportPesa Premier League leaders Tusker following their 1-0 win over Ulinzi Stars on Wednesday.

Having thrashed Chemelil Sugar 3-1 just three days earlier, the defending champions reduced the gap between them and the brewers at the top to just two points with George Odhiambo’s solo strike blowing the title race wide open with just six matches to go.

Rwandan striker Jacques Tuyisenge was involved in creating Odhiambo’s goal on Wednesday after also playing a crucial role in last weekend’s win over Chemelil. Odhiambo seems to be rediscovering his form at the right time and is now second leading scorer for the club this season with six league goals.
The win revitalised Gor’s title push after a rough patch that had seen the team go four matches without a win.

“If you want three points against us, you will first have to break down the team’s resilience. The boys’ fighting spirit is just fantastic,” Gor coach Marcelo Ferreira told Daily Nation Sport at the end of the match.

Ferreira also heaped praise on Ulinzi Stars and asked every local team “to be like Ulinzi”.

“Many teams come into our matches looking to defend so much that they end up not playing at all. Ulinzi didn’t do that. You could see that they were prepared to win. I wish all teams in this country can play like that,” said the Brazilian.

But both teams were involved in ugly scenes during the physical encounter. Gor’s Rwandan defender Abouba Sibomana was involved in a burst up with Ulinzi Stars defender Omar Mbongi which blew up in the 62nd minute with the sending off of Mohammed “Rio” Hassan.

The Ulinzi defender was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Tuyisenge, denting his team’s push for an equaliser. The defeat marked Ulinzi’s first loss in the six league games.

The two former champions however maintained their positions in second and third place respectively in the table standing. Tusker lead the log on 45 points, two ahead of Gor and eight above Ulinzi as the title race enters the homestretch.

The league takes a week long break to pave way for the quarter-finals of the GOtv Shield this weekend.