Gor Mahia midfielder Francis Kahata controls the ball under pressure from Kariobangi Sharks’ Patillah Omotto during their Kenyan premier League tie at the Moi Stadium in Kisumu on August 1, 2018. PHOTO/Courtesy
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 1- Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia showed their class, hitting Kariobangi Sharks 3-0 at the Moi Stadium in Kisumu to move 15 points clear on top of the standings with three matches still left in hand.
An own goal from Geoffrey Shiveka started off the beautiful rainy afternoon at the Moi Stadium before second half goals from Kevin ‘Ade’ Omondi and Lawrence Juma capped off Gor’s 17th win of the season.
The victory took Gor to 55 points after 21 rounds of matches with the closest chaser Sofapaka lying second with 40 points having played 24 matches
The league leaders did not show any signs of fatigue with head coach Dylan Kerr making changes to the squad that played the midweek CAF Confederation Cup tie against Yanga in Dar es Salaam.
Only skipper Harun Shakava, Godfrey Walusimbi, Francis Kahata and Ephraim Guikan survived form the team that played in Yanga with Shaban Odhoji coming into goal while Charles Momanyi partnered Shakava in defense.
They were away in the lead after 25 minutes when Sharks skipper Shiveka was forced to turn the ball into his own net, a lead Gor took to the half time break.
Omondi who has been reinventing himself since being subjected to close to eight weeks in the cold picked another goal for himself, taking Gor two up after 77 minutes with virtually his first involvement in the game after coming on for Guikan.
Gor Mahia players celebrate one of their four goals against Yanga during a CAF Confederation Cup game at Kasarani on July 18, 2018. PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
Five minutes to time, Juma completed the victory for the 16-time league champions with a neat finish as Gor preserved their unbeaten run.
K’Ogalo are faced with a mountainous month of August as they are set to play another eight matches all in the span of four weeks.
They travel back to Nairobi on Wednesday night before preparing to face Nakumatt on Saturday in Machakos before flying to Mombasa to play Bandari on Wednesday. After that, they will face Kakamega Homeboyz and Chemelil Sugar in Machakos on August 12 and 15.
Four days later they play Rayon Sport at home in a Confederation Cup fixture before facing Sofapaka in a league fixture on August 22.
If the fixture does not change, they are scheduled to face arch rivals AFC Leopards in the second leg of the Mashemeji Derby on August 25 then end their suicidal month with an away trip to Algeria to face USM Alger in their final Confederation Cup group match.
