Africa-Press – Kenya. A delighted Tusker head coach Robert Matano watched his charges celebrate a third consecutive win to bolster their title ambitions this season. The Kenyan Premier League leaders consolidated their position at the top of the table with a hard-fought 1-0 win over AFC Leopards at Moi Stadium, Kasarani on Sunday.
Eric Mmata scored the all-important goal from the spot in the 68th minute moments after he was sent tumbling down in the box. “We are doing well. Beating an opponent of Leopards’ calibre is no mean feat,” Matano said.
“As I said last week, we will take each game at a time with our eyes firmly trained on the championship. We lost the chance to represent our country last season and we are looking for another this time.”
Leopards coach Patrick Aussems said his team was unfortunate to come out of the match empty-handed. “We had our chances only that we were not clinical enough in front of goal. We need to make the most of all our chances to win matches,” Aussems said.
“All in all, we played well and we hope to make the necessary adjustments in our next matches.”
Tusker had made their intentions clear from the first whistle. In the seventh minute, the brewers threatened Leopards’ goal-mouth when Eric Zakayo delivered a delicious cross into the area, only for Charles Momanyi’s header to fly inches wide.
Within minutes, Leopards had their chances when a relentless foray into the brewers’ area led to three set pieces in a row that were all smothered by the solid defence. In the 25th minute, hawk-eyed Tusker custodian Patrick Matasi punched out Nigerian forward Ojo Olaniyi’s close-range effort for a fruitless corner.
A couple of minutes later, prolific striker Lawrence Luvanda collected Boniface ‘Kajos’ Onyango’s cut-back from the left channel, but his rasping effort was also parried off for a corner.
Elsewhere, KCB stunned Bandari 1-0 at Mbaraki Sports Club in Mombasa to renew their hopes of charging for a maiden title. John Mwangi fired the bankers into the lead on the half-hour mark to seal the crucial win. At Ruaraka grounds, Talanta rallied from behind to condemn Nairobi City Stars to their third consecutive loss of the season.
Peter ‘Pinches’ Opiyo converted from the spot to earn Nairobi City Stars a fourth-minute lead. However, quick-fire goals by Geoffrey Likono and Zakaria Castro in the 63rd and 67th minutes respectively secured maximum points for Ken Kenyatta’s side. Following the matches, Tusker remains on top of the KPL log with nine points from three matches.
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