NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 7 – Paul Kinyanjui stepped off the bench to score a 92nd minute winner as Mathare United staged a stunning comeback to come from two goals down and beat Nairobi United 3-2 in a National Super League fixture at the M-Pesa Academy in Nairobi.
The victory takes Mathare to 74 points, and the Slum Boys will only need one point from their next game next Friday to confirm their return to the top flight after just one season in the cold.
Nairobi United, placed fourth in the standings with 63 points, needed victory to push up to third, but the defeat now leaves them with a mountain to climb in the chase for, at worst, third place, with three rounds of matches left.
The Naibois had led through first half goals from Isaac Omweri and Rodgers Angal. However, Mathare bounced back in the second half, a brace from the sensational Paul Were taking them 2-2 ups before Kinyanjui scored with virtually his first touch of the ball.
Tactical switches worked – Maina
“We made some tactical switches in the second half, and the changes we made have won the game for us. We kept believing and at halftime we talked with the boys and told them to calm down and this worked for us. We had a very bad start but once we put our heads down to concentrate, we got something great,” assistant coach Jeff Maina told Capital Sport after the game.
Nairobi United will only have themselves to blame as they wasted two massive chances to win the game.
Just a quarter of an hour into the second half, leading 2-0, Henry Omollo was through on goal with the keeper at his mercy, but he saw his effort cleared on the line by the sprinting Fidel Otieno, when he was already wheeling away in celebrations.
At 2-2, Mathare keeper Steve Njunge made a stunning double save to deny Omollo’s swing from a corner, and rose bravely to block Bonface Ontere’s point blank effort.
Omweri had given the Naibois a seventh minute lead when he flicked on a freekick, as they started stronger. Three minutes to the break they were 2-0 up, Angal tapping home unmarked at the backpost after Omollo won the ball on the right to square.
Mathare make the most of second half
In the second half, after surviving the close chance where defender Otieno, Mathare halved the deficit with quarter of an hour to play when Were pounced on a defensive mistake to beat the keeper with a low ball from inside the six yard box.
Were doubled his tally and levelled scores for Mathare from the penalty spot in the 79th minute, taking matters into his own hands after he had been hacked down by the keeper.
With a 2-2 score, Mathare put in more pressure and once again, after Njung’e made two crucial back to back saves, they benefited from the turnover of possession with substitute Kinyanjui curling a beautiful ball beyond the keeper after cutting in from the right.
