Ulinzi edge All Stars in five-goal thriller
Enosh Ochieng (left) of Ulinzi Stars vies with Patrick Ochieng of Kisumu All Stars during their Kenya Premier League match at Afraha Stadium on February 23, 2020. PHOTO | RICHARD MAOSI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The soldiers went ballistic when striker Masuta Masuta opened the scoring in the sixth minute
- At half hour mark, Ulinzi were on the driving seat when Bernard Ongoma fired from the edge of the box with a powerful strike following a goal-mouth confusion
- However, in the 69th minute Masuta completed his brace when he made good use of Harun Mwale’s well weighted cross
Ulinzi Stars rallied to beat bottom-placed Kisumu All Stars 3-2 in an evenly contested Kenyan Premier League match at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru on Sunday.
The soldiers, who won the first leg 2-0 in Kisumu, should count themselves lucky to have bagged three points.
“This is not the way Ulinzi machine plays with such struggling sides. I am not happy. The players did not heed my words at the dressing room,” said a visibly unhappy coach Benjamin Nyangweso.
“How do you explain why the team is conceding easy goals from a club that is on the verge of relegation. This is unacceptable and I hope to rectify the mistakes when we play away to Sofapaka next weekend,” added Nyangweso.
All Stars coach Andrew Aroka was happy with his charges despite the loss.
“Losing narrowly to experienced side like Ulinzi is a remarkable improvement. A draw would have been a fair result as we made a gallant fight and pushed them in the second half,” said Aroka.
The soldiers went ballistic when striker Masuta Masuta opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
At half hour mark, Ulinzi were on the driving seat when Bernard Ongoma fired from the edge of the box with a powerful strike following a goal-mouth confusion.
All Stars should have reduced the deficit in the 32nd minute but Steve Otieno's direct shot in front of goal was easily gathered by goalkeeper James Saruni.
A minute into the second half, All Stars pulled one back when Gerisom Arabe stepped forward to fire a penalty past goalkeeper Saruni after a black shirt was hacked inside the box.
Inspired by this goal, the visitors intensified their search for a second goal and their efforts were rewarded in the 58th minute when Michael Owino made it 2-2 with a timely shot at the edge of the box.
However, in the 69th minute Masuta completed his brace when he made good use of Harun Mwale’s well weighted cross to plant his glancing header past goalkeeper Mathew Gad.
Kisumu All Stars made three changes withdrawing Mark Kwasira, John Owira and Steve Otieno for Dismas Amunga, Eric Otieno and Walter Omondi.
On the opposite side, coach Nyangweso made two substitutions and injected new blood of Omar Boraafya and Ibrahim Shambi and rested John Njuguna and off-colour Enosh Ochieng’.
