Nairobi City Stars Saturday bounced back to winning ways in Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) with a 2-0 win over struggling Mathare United at Ruaraka Grounds in Nairobi.
In the early kick-off, struggling Nzoia Sugar stunned Kariobangi Sharks 3-1 at Sudi Stadium in Bungoma.
At Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Wazito rallied from behind to hold Kenya Police to a 1-1 draw.
Two first half goals from veteran midfielder Peter Opiyo is all the visitors City Stars needed to end their two-match winless streak and move to second place on the log with 17 points.
Before Saturday’s clash, ‘Simba wa Nairobi’ had lost 2-1 to Sharks, before settling for a barren draw with Nzoia Sugar.
“We had a lot of chances that we did not convert but I would like to thank the boys for the victory. They were disciplined and defended well throughout. It is a good plus as we look forward to our next match,” said City Stars coach Nocholas Muyoti.
For the ‘Slum Boys’, they fell to their sixth defeat of the season, coming after their 2-2 away draw with a tough Kakamega Homeboyz at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega last Wednesday. Mathare remain 14th with seven points.
Mathare United coach Ezekiel Akwana blamed his side’s loss to fixture congestion.
“I cannot say that we have not played well. I blame the fixture secretary for the loss because we played away on Wednesday (against Homeboyz) and we traveled back on Thursday. I had to give the players off to rest on Friday so we played today without training,” he lamented.
Opiyo gave City Stars the breakthrough on 19 minutes with a brilliant free-kick from the edge of the box. He would have doubled the visitor’s lead moments later but a similar effort came off the post, Abdallah Salim’s rebound being canceled for offside.
Opiyo completed his brace in the 35th minute with a curler to the far left after turning well inside the box.
Despite dominating the second-half, City Stars struggled to create open chances to win by a big margin.
At Sudi Stadium, Levis Okello scored a hat-trick to help Nzoia register their second victory of the season.
The striker opened the scoring for Nzoia in the eighth minute but Sharks responded on 21 minutes through Erick Mmata’s penalty after Randy Bakari had handled the ball.
Okello connected to Vincent Mahiga’s cross to restore the miller’s lead in the 51st minute before deciding the tie in stoppage time with his third of the day.
Following the loss, Sharks dropped from third to fourth on 16 points while Nzoia Sugar are 16th with six points.
At Nyayo National Stadium, Police’s Duncan Otieno scored in his own net in the 55th minute to gift Wazito a point. Duke Abuya had put the law enforcers ahead in the 40th minute. Police are 12th with eight points, two above 17th-placed Wazito.
Saturday results
Wazito 1-1 Kenya Police
Nzoia Sugar 3-1 Kariobangi Sharks
Mathare United 0-2 Nairobi City Stars
