Tusker down Leopards in Machakos

Tusker inflicted more pain on embattled AFC Leopards coach Rodolfo Zapata with a 4-0 hiding in a lop-sided SportPesa Premier League match at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County on Wednesday.

Sydney Ochieng’ and Marlon Tangauzi gave Tusker a 2-0 cushion at halftime, before Boniface Muchiri and Jackson Macharia registered their names on the score line in the final stanza.

Victory for Tusker, 4-2 winners against Leopards in the first leg in April, takes their points tally to 50, one below third-placed Ingwe with two matches to spare.

Zapata, who came into this game on the back of a 3-1 league loss to Kariobangi Sharks last week, made a single change to the team that lost 1-0 to Sofapaka in the SportPesa Shield last Sunday, with Victor Majid replacing Said Tsuma in midfield.

Tusker, who settled for a 2-2 draw with Mathare United last Sunday, went all out from kick off and would’ve opened the scoring in the first minute but Peter Nzuki blasted wide from inside the area.

Ochieng’ broke the deadlock in the 20th minute with a simple finish from close range after Leopards goalkeeper Ezekiel Owade delayed to come out on time to deal with a Brian Osumba shot that had deflected off Abdallah Salim.

Ingwe’s Brian Marita saw his attempted shot from outside the 18 easily gathered by Patrick Matasi on 19 minutes, three minutes after the former Posta Rangers man had parried Duncan Otieno’s free kick for a fruitless corner.

A minute later, Tusker went ahead as Ochieng' ran fast to pounce on a deflected Osumba shot to slot home past Owade, who will be blamed solely for failing to come out on time despite calls from his back line to collect the mess.

Tusker found loopholes in Leopards defence and occasionally broke into the final third but were not clinical enough to score more.

Marlon Tangauzi was fed by Brian Osumba on 42 minutes before he unleashed a rasping shot from a tight angle to give the brewers a 2-0 lead at the break.

Zapata pulled out Brian Marita for centre back Christopher Oruchum at the restart, forcing Duncan Otieno to take up his natural midfield position, as Oruchum and Abdallah Salim partnered at the back.

He would later introduce Eugene Mukhangula and Saad Musa on the 59 and 63 minutes, but none stopped Tusker from their frequent raids.

Boniface Muchiri stretched their lead to 3-0 on 78 minutes and a minute later, substitute Jackson Macharia hammered the last nail on Leopards’ coffin, as the eleven-time champions made it 15 wins in 23 league matches against Ingwe.

Tusker visit Nzoia Sugar, while Leopards will be away to Ulinzi Stars in their next league matches slated for Sunday.