NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 27 – Gor Mahia bounced back to winning ways in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League after beating Zoo Kericho 3-0 at the Kasarani Stadium on Wednesday evening.
First half goals from Sammy Onyango and Kenneth Muguna coupled with Sydney Ochieng’s beauty late in the second half saw Gor bounce back from the weekend loss at the hands of Vihiga United, taking them to seventh in the standings with 12 points, nine behind league leaders KCB who have played a match more.
By the break, Gor were comfortably leading by two goals with Onyango and Muguna giving coach Carlos Manuel Vaz Pinto a comfortable halftime pep talk.
The reigning champions broke the deadlock after nine minutes when Onyango’s sasping shot from distance found Zoo keeper Maxwell Muchesia flat off his feet.
Gor were comfortable in knocking the ball around the pack while Zoo were not as adventurous, choosing to sit behind the ball and punch on the counter.
They had one such instance in the 20th minute which they surely should have scored, but poor decision making saw the rare chance go to waste. Mathew Tayo Odongo scooped a ball behind the defense finding Collins Neto, but the latter chose to pass instead of going for goal with only the keeper to beat.
Skipper Muguna was Gor’s architect in chief moving forward and he was at the heart of every creative move the reigning champions made.
In the 27th minute, Muguna had a go at goal with a swinging shot on the turn, but the effort went straight to the keeper’s arms. Three minutes later, he sent Clifton Miheso through on the right, the winger taking a first time shot that whistled across the face of goal.
But just a few seconds later, Gor were 2-0 down, this time Muguna coming to the end of an Onyango cross from the right, tapping simply unmarked inside the box.
Gor had two good chances towards the break, first Jules Ulimwengu firing over unmarked inside the box from a neat Miheso pass while two minutes to the break, Miheso himself was guilty of missing a sitter when he was put through by Muguna but couldn’t muster a proper shot at goal with space and time.
Gor were still as dominant in the second half though Zoo had a chance three minutes in with Danson Kiprono hitting the crossbar with a freekick after picking out keeper Boniface Oluoch off his line.
But Gor were the more dominant side despite Zoo trying to pile the pressure, but their final third decisions cost them.
On the other end, it was Gor who would have added another goal in the encounter, but substitute Tito Okello could not beat the keeper one on one with 15 minutes left.
Substitute Ochieng though put the game to bed with a beautiful strike from range at the death to settle the tie.
