Roaring Leopards claw Wazito, move second on the log

A re-energised AFC Leopards clawed battling Wazito FC 3-2 at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on Wednesday to move to position two in the Kenyan Premier League table on 13 points, just three shy of defending champions Gor Mahia.

A Whyvonne Isuza brace and a strike from on-form Ezekiel Odera handed Ingwe the win while Piston Mutambi also scored a double but it was not enough to earn Wazito any point.

Ingwe have suddenly found their spots under Tanzanian Dennis Kitambi with today’s win their third on the trot– after a 2-0 win over Sony and a 4-3 battling victory over Mathare United last weekend.

At the Kenyatta Stadium, it was Wazito who drew the first blood after Mutamba shook the net in the 26^th minute before Odera restored parity in the 43rd minute after his 15th-minute penalty was saved by Wazito goalkeeper Philip Odhiambo .

Six minutes later, however, Wazito’s Kennedy Ayako was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Leopards left back Moses Mburu .

The quick-paced, drama-filled match also saw Victor Majid fail to convert a penalty for AFC Leopards in the 79th minute after Mark Ojiambo brought down Marvin Nabwire but the big cats had Isuza to thank, striking in the 82nd minute to claim the vital three points.

However, despite the win, infuriated Leopards coach Kitambi accused his players of making ‘silly mistakes’ which could have proved costly.

“Overall, we just failed to manage the game…We need to work on defence and management because in the next few weeks this might be the pattern,” Kitambi said.

His opposite number, Frank Ouna, slammed the referee for awarding Leopards ‘unclear penalties’.

“I think the referee was making very easy decisions, any touch in the box was a penalty but this is football and it’s a game of men and I think the officiating today was very questionable,” Ouna said.