Desperate Sofapaka plot Gor Mahia upset

Former Kenyan Premier League (KPL) champions, Sofapaka are plotting an upset of current holders Gor Mahia in the desperate quest to avoid the chop on Sunday at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.

The pressure is on the 2009 league winners who are on 15 points with six games left after Nairobi City Stars (17) pushed them to the bottom of the log with a stirring 3-1 victory at Bandari on Sunday as Ushuru FC (24) salvaged a late 1-1 draw at Kakamega Homeboyz.

Assistant coach John Baraza, who has been in charge for the better part of the season in the absence of his boss David Ouma who has been involved with Harambee Starlets, believes all is not lost.

“In KPL we have no easy games and the position in the table does not matter. Gor Mahia is in a good position, but has a number of challenges too.

“It’s clear we have been quite poor and we need to improve in the remaining matches. We still have a chance to escape relegation and we are fighting to achieve that starting with Gor,” the former Sofapaka captain and striker asserted.

“The expectations of our fans and players are totally different from what we have achieved considering our past record but the important thing for us is to redeem ourselves,” he added.

He challenged his players to draw inspiration from their good history in their quest to avoid relegation for the first time since earning promotion and clinching the title on the debut in 2009.

Gor (53) is trailing leaders Tusker by five points after the Brewers sunk Muhoroni Youth FC 2-1 on Friday to ramp pressure on the three-peat titleholders to fashion a response.

Former Gor ace Eric Ochieng who crossed over to Batoto ba Mungu in mid-season will line up against his former employers with striker who made his Harambee Stars debut whilst employed by Sofapaka lining in the opposite side.

Defeat on Sunday will inch the once swashbuckling club of the KPL closer to the relegation trap door while any other result apart from victory for Gor will swing the title momentum back to Tusker after K’Ogalo slashed their seven-point advantage to two ahead of round 25 of the fixtures.

The last time they met in May, Gor ran out 2-0 winners at Moi Stadium in Kisumu.