Five talking points from the FKF-PL

After close to two months of no action, Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) resumed over the weekend under strict adherence to Covid-19 containment protocols. 

The league was stopped on March 26 after President Uhuru Kenyatta banned all sporting activities in the country, owing to the incresed Covid-19 infections.

The eight weekend matches marked the 16th round of this season’s FKF-PL, which now has 17 teams, following Fifa’s May 4 decision to relegate Zoo FC to FKF Division One after finding them culpable of match fixing. Zoo have protested the move and promised to lodge an appeal. 

Here are the five talking points of the weekend matches.

AFC Leopards underline title credentials

With visitors KCB holding league leaders Tusker to a barren draw at Ruaraka grounds on Saturday, 13-time winners Leopards capitalised on the advantage to cut the brewers’ lead to two points only.

Caleb Olilo scored the lone goal, which helped Ingwe to a 1-0 win over stubborn Nzoia Sugar at the same venue.

As a result, coach Patrick Aussems' side, who have a game in hand against Mathare United leapfrogged Kariobangi Sharks into second place on 32 points. Even with the advantage, coach Aussems chose not to engage in discussions about Leopards’ chances of winning this season’s title. 

“…I don’t know what will happen in the next future, so let us wait and see. I am just focusing on what we have, we could be at the top but there are a lot of things to improve on, so it means we still have some weaknesses to work on,” said the Belgian. 

Leopards last won the FKF-PL title in 1998. 

Can Gor Mahia regain ground in the title chase?

Reigning champions Gor Mahia’s 1-0 win over Nairobi City Stars at Utalii groundsin Nairobi on Sunday saw them climb two places up the table to sixth on 22 points. 

Burkinabe midfielder Abdul Rahman was the assassin for the 19-time Kenyan champions in a match they should have won by a bigger margin. 

Following the slim victory, K’Ogalo are now 12 points behind leaders Tusker with two matches in hand over leaders Tusker. Victory in both would bring them to within six points of the brewers.

In March when Gor’s campaign looked to be crumbling down following shocking defeats, coach Vaz Pinto called for patience, noting that “Gor is always stronger in the second half of the season".

It remains to be seen if this will be the case this time round. 

Kariobangi Sharks end poor run against Kakamega Homeboyz

Sharks coach William Muluya was over the moon Friday after his side downed Homeboyz 1-0 at Utalii grounds.

“I’d say I am very happy today, because it has not been an easy one. We have not beaten them for quite a long time, especially when we are hosting them. Sometimes a slim victory is sweeter,” said an elated Muluya after the match. 

The meeting was the ninth between the two sides since 2017 with Homeboyz dominant in this fixture. In the previous eight meetings, the Kakamega County based side has triumphed in six, only one (2019) going in Sharks' favour, while the other one (2017) ended in a barren draw.

Muluya attributed his side’s win to good preparations and determination by his players to bring to an end the poor run against Homeboyz.

Sofapaka’s Lawrence Juma continues to shine

Sofapaka's Lawrence Juma picked up from where he left of when the league was halted producing another man-of-the-match-performance in their 2-0 win over Wazito at Wundanyi Stadium in Taita Taveta County on Sunday. 

In the match, the Kenyan international first made his impact felt in the 74th minute when he assisted Nixon Omondi to their breakthrough, before sealing Batoto ba Mungu’s victory in extra time.

The goal was Juma’s eighth of the season and places him joint third with Tusker’s Henry Meja and Bandari’s William Wadri in the Golden Boot race.

Sharks forward Erick Kapito leads the race with 14 goals ahead of Leopards hit man Elvis Rupia on 11 goals.

The need for more stadiums in the city

While every football enthusiast in the country was delighted with the resumption of the league, the lack of stadia in Nairobi is a worrying trend.

There was a concern whether Ruaraka and Utalii grounds would be fit during this rainy season to host all the five matches that were to be staged in the city.

While Utalii has hosted several league matches this season, it was the first time in more than one year that Ruaraka was being used for league games. 

In most cases, Ruaraka, which is the training ground for Tusker FC, has only hosted Kenya Women's Premier League matches and National Super League matches.

But with Nyayo National Stadium out of bound for the league matches, and FKF having failed to secure Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani (main stadium) and Annex Stadium, the issue of lack of venues has again come to the fore.

By the time the match between Mathare United and Vihiga United came to an end at Ruaraka on Sunday, it was clear that the ground will be in a very bad shape should it continue hosting more league matches.

[email protected]