Kenyan giants Gor Mahia suffered their first loss in the Confederations Cup after losing 2-1 to hosts Angolan side Petro Atletico de Luanda in a group ‘D’ match Wednesday night.
Goals scored by Mungux Quiberto and Toni Rosa Ribeiro gave the home team all the three points and throw the group wide open.
However, a late loan goal by Nicholas Kipkurui gave the visitors a little smile in Luanda.
The Kenyan club that travelled minus their super stars Dennis Oliech and Jacques Tuyisenge, struggled to break down their opponent’s backline and even the replacements made by head coach Hassan Oktay did not bring the much needed change.
Tuyisenge, who scored two goals in a 4-2 win over Zamalek of Egypt and Oliech, were both unavailable.
Oliech is nursing an injury picked last Friday during a training session at Camp Toyoyo while Tusiyenge was suspended.
Francis Mustafa made the first attempt for Gor Mahia but his third-minute effort was easily thwarted by Gerson de Costa in the Petro Atletico goal.
Three minutes later, K’Ogalo captain Haroun Shakava, making his first appearance for Gor Mahia in the Confederations Cup group stages, was forced to clear a dangerous ball inside the box.
Fantastic passes by Gor players ended up with Shafique Batambuze’s cross that found Mustafa but his header was easily dealt with once again.
Quiberto inflicted the first pain on Gor Mahia in the 12th minute following a poor clearance on K’Ogalo’s side.
The goal looked to have inspired the hosts who could have gone ahead again in the 21st minute.
In the 36th minute, however, Toni Rosa Ribeiro made no mistake as he scored the second and stretched his side’s lead going into the break.
In the second half, it was the hosts who could have pilled more pressure on Gor with Job Ricardo picking out Denis Sesugh but his header was well dealt with by Boniface Oluoch in goal.
With a two-goal deficit and the clock ticking, Gor Mahia threw in Nicholas Kipkurui for an ineffective Francis Mustaffa and the move proved somewhat helpful as the Kenyan side took the game to their opponents.
The Angolas side seemed to have been better than Gor as they dominated almost the entire game.
Gor received many foul kicks, which were not properly converted.
The Kenyan Giants have now lost one match in the confederation group matches after securing one defeat against Zamalek.
Statistically, Gor have not shown good form in away matches. In fact, that was the main reason why they failed to get into the quarter-finals in last year’s campaign.