10-man Gor defy Motema Pembe

10-man Gor defy Motema Pembe

Matthews Mutai

Gor Mahia FC survived a sustained late salvo to draw 1-1 with DC Motema Pembe who had a late penalty kept out by goalkeeper David Mapigano during Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup playoff match at the Kasarani Stadium.

William Luenzi scored the equalizer for Motema from a rebound in the 70th minute, eight minutes after Gislain Yikpe had put Gor 1-0 up with only his first touch off the bench.

Gor finished the match with a man down after Charles Momanyi was red carded for handling the ball inside the box and Mapigano saved the resultant penalty after diving right to save Vinny Bungonga’s effort.

Both teams wasted no time settling to the game, employing an open approach and showing willingness to attack right from the start.

Gor had a golden opportunity to pull the opening punch when Boniface Omondi played Nicholas Kipkirui into a great attacking position but striker hesitated on taking the shot.

Instead, he attempted to cut it back for Kenneth Muguna who was arriving into the box but Yannick Kombe read his intentions and nicked the ball away.

Joash Onyango was almost punished for holding on to possession for too long when Vinny Bungonga robbed the ball off him and raced towards goal.

Onyango recovered to track him and ensure he didn’t get a clear shot and Bungonga went down after fluffing the chance. It looked like there was a tag on his shirt but the referee ignored his penalty appeal.

Muguna then tried to play Kipkirui through but his pass in behind the defence line was overhit and ran harmlessly into the arms of goalkeeper Barel Mouko.

Mukoko Amale beat Mapigano with a fierce snapshot from the right wing but the crossbar came to his rescue and then Gor had a penalty shout turned down on the other end as lively game continued to excite.

Dickson Ambundo curled a decent ball into the penalty area which Omondi got a slight touch on and Kipkirui’s follow up with a header was off target. It would not have doubted anyway had it gone in as he was adjudged to have been offside.

Muguna then found Dickson Ambundo with a chip but the winger could not keep his headed attempt on down.

Head coach Steve Pollack’s first change was to bring Yikpe on for Omondi and it proved a masterstroke as the Ivorian scored to put Gor ahead just a minute after he had been on the pitch.

The visitors issued an instant response through Luenzi who reacted fastest to turn in a rebound from a tight angle after Mapigano had pushed Junior Kone’s free-kick back into play.

Gor were reduced to 10 men eight minutes later after Momanyi was given the marching orders for using his hand to prevent a shot from going in yet Bungonga was unable to beat Mapigano from the resultant penalty.

Motema Pembe had the chance to win it late on after Amale drilled a good cross into the box but Bungonga failed to get the right execution with an attempted overhead kick.

Tags:

Gor Mahia FC CAF Confederation Cup DC Motema Pembe

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