Gor Mahia labored to a 2-1 win over hard fighting Posta Rangers in Kisumu on Friday to go 14 pointd clear on the KPL Log with two games in hand to second placed Bandari. This means that Gor have now bagged the title and not even a miracle can help their opponents.
K’Ogalo now only need four wins from their remaining matches to be crowned champions. And that is if the noisy Bandari win all their remaining matches. They will be at Ruaraka on Sunday to face a resurgent Tusker which is under the tutelage of Robert Matano.
And we keep drifting away, 2 games in hand, 15 points GAP and ONLY 4 more wins to unassailable KPL championship winning 71 points!!!! We are Gor Mahia FC #Sirkal pic.twitter.com/oIeIHAHVWs
— GOR MAHIA FC (@OfficialGMFC) August 10, 2018
Golden Boot
Gor Mahia might have won the league but there is still a lot to play for before the end of the season. The race for the golden boot is still not yet done with current KPL top scorer having ditched the league for Zambia. Jacques Tuyisenge now has 13 goals and is enjoying a rich vein of form having scored in the past two matches.
AFC Leopards’ mercurial midfielder Whyvonne Isuza has 11 strikes to his name, but is suspended for the team’s next matches having accumulated several Yellow Cards. Both of them are chasing Rupia’s 16 goals.
Relegation Battle
If there was ever an opportunity for the bottom two sides to take one huge leap forward towards beating the drop, then the relegation six-pointer at the Thika Municipal Stadium tomorrow is it.
Victory for either hosts Thika United or Wazito will blow the much needed wind in the sails as the season reaches the business end. The two teams are only separated by goal difference with both on 20 points and even a draw will not be good enough in their quest to beat the drop. In any other season, home advantage would have worked to Thika’s benefit but certainly not this one.
The hosts have not managed to win any of their last four matches and their coach will only be too aware that it is the results at their own backyard that have seen them survive relegation in the last couple of seasons.
With his side getting their act together at the right moment as they seek to stave off the threat of relegation, Zoo Kericho coach Sammy Okoth has heaped praise on his charges after their weekend victory over Kariobangi Sharks .
Okoth said that his side had done their homework against a side they had not beaten in their last eight meetings in the top flight league and in the National Super League.
“We had a strategy for Sharks and I am very happy it worked. Our plan was to deny them spaces by not pressing very high and hitting them on the counter and that is how we got our two goals. The win is very crucial for us as it takes us off the relegation zone but we have to keep up with the good performance in the next matches,” Okoth remarked.
Goals from Sabiri Sindindi and Mike Madoya saw Zoo extend their unbeaten run to four matches. The Kericho side host Nzoia Sugar this afternoon in the only topflight match of the day.
Vihiga United have discovered to their cost how life in the top tier league is demanding. The debutants are only three points above the two automatic relegation slots and they will need to get as many points on board to avert a quick return to the second tier. Tomorrow, they travel to Narok to take on third-placed Sofapaka knowing too well that defeat might leave them in the dreaded zone come Monday.