Leopards roar, Tusker Sofapaka stumble
Zdravko Logarusic on Saturday returned to the touchline to inspire AFC Leopards coach to a 1-0 win over Western Stima in a Kenyan Premier League match at Kasarani.
Former title contenders Sofapaka and Tusker FC however suffered deflating losses away from home to Sony Sugar and Bandari, while Muhoroni Youth stretched their unbeaten run to 12 matches with a 1-0 home win over Mathare United.
Ingwe were honoring the first of a two-match ban on their fans who were found guilty of causing mayhem during their match against Thika United two months ago.
Bernard Mang’oli was the hero of the day with a first half penalty that enabled Ingwe to secure a first victory in five matches.
In a game of two halves, Ingwe dominated proceedings in the first half, while Stima were on top of things after the break.
Ingwe broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when defender Joash Onyango brought down Mike Khamati for a penalty that was converted by Mang’oli.
BACK TO WINNING WAYS
Logarusic commended his players for the outcome of the match.
“When they (Stima) beat us in the first leg, their coach spoke a lot of rubbish about our team so it was important that we win this match just to teach him a lesson. We have won this match because Stima were tactically naive and although I am not satisfied with the team’s overall output, I am happy we are back to winning ways,” he said.
In Mombasa, midfielder Lawrence Kasadha scored Bandari’s winning goal in the 34th minute as the coastal side completed a double over Tusker. Goalkeeper Joseph Okoth was the star performer for Bandari with crucial second half saves that kept Tusker out of the game.
Bandari beat Tusker by an identical score in the first leg meeting in Nairobi in April.
In Muhoroni, the hosts climbed to fourth place on the table with the 1-0 home win over Mathare United while in Awendo, Hamidu Kwizera, and Marwa Chamberi scored second half goals as Sony Sugar beat Sofapaka 2-0.
Reports by Cellestine Olilo, Gaitano Pessa and Abdulrahman Sheriff
KPL Results:
AFC Leopards 1 Western Stima 0 (Kasarani)
Bandari 1 Tusker 0 (Mombasa)
Muhoroni Youth 1 Mathare United 0 (Muhoroni)
Sony Sugar 2 Sofapaka 0 (Awendo)