Ulinzi shoot down Leopards
Coach Zdravko Logarusic recorded his first loss of the season on Saturday, as his AFC Leopards went down 0-1 to Ulinzi Stars in an entertaining Kenyan Premier League at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru.
Earlier at the same venue, Western Stima beat Nakuru All Stars 1-0, while hosts Thika United beat Muhoroni Youth 4-2.
Boniface Onyango netted Ulinzi’s solitary goal in the sixth minute as Ingwe’s efforts to make amends hit a brick wall.
Leopards started the match on a high note, testing Ulinzi Stars custodian James Saruni in the third minute of the game.
Emmanuel Ngama, with his first touch with the ball, dribbled past two Ulinzi defenders but his left footer was stopped by Saruni. That turned out to be the only time Saruni was called upon to make a save.
Minutes later, Ulinzi hit the target when Boniface Onyango controlled an aerial ball and to fire past Leopards goalkeeper Wyclife Kasaya.
In the second-half, Ulinzi almost doubled the lead when John Makwata’s defence-splitting pass was wasted inside the box.
Ulinzi coach Robert Matano was a happy man after the final whistle.
REFUSED TO PLAY
“It is sad beating a team that I have coached in the past but I’m the coach of Ulinzi and my job is to make sure the soldiers win every match,” said Matano.
Leopards Zdravko Logarusic said that his team suffered lack of proper pre-season training, and said his opponents “refused to play” after scoring the first goal.
“Kenyan football will never grow if teams only plan to score one goal and then refuse to play for the rest of the match. There was a lot of time-wasting during the match and the referee should have given us more time. Other than that, I have noted that there are too many passengers in my squad. Thankfully, we only have three months before we can clean house,” he said.
In the first match, Western Stima made sure they returned home with maximum points, beating Nakuru All Stars 1-0.
The hosts failed to utilize several scoring chances they created.
Henry Omino-coached Stima scored in the 56th minute through hardworking striker Fredrick Shimonyo whose powerful shot beat All Stars custodian Martin Luke.
At the Thika Stadium, hosts Thika United recorded their first home win after beating Muhoroni Youth 4-2 in a match that was stopped for three minutes due to crowd trouble.
Muhoroni Youth went ahead first in the fifth minute through Anthony Nyang’or, but hat-trick hero Raymond Omondi levelled matters nine minutes later.
Thika’s Wycliffe Opondo scored in the half hour mark but the visitors equalized just before the half time via a penalty converted by Abbas Akinyemi.
KPL Results
Ulinzi Stars 1 AFC Leopards 0
Thika United 4 Muhoroni Youth 2
Nakuru All Stars 0 Western Stima 1