NAIROBI, Kenya, May 7 – James Kibande put his head between his hands and burst into tears as he scored the only goal that more or less drove the nail of relegation deep into the coffin of his former team, Nzoia Sugar. I lost the will to wash away and celebrate.
Kibande scores 79 pointsth The header that helped Tusker FC beat Sugar Millers with the only goal at the Dandora Stadium. As a result, Sugar Millers are outside the safety zone with 11 points, with six rounds remaining.
If they lose their next two games, they will be eliminated from the top flight and the Millers are looking at a bleak future.
For the Tuskers, Kibande's goal lifted the veil of huge pressure on their faces, who saw their Premier League championship hopes effectively take a hit after defeats to Kariobangi Sharks and FC Taranta. It was a big deal for the team.
With this victory, they solidified their position in 3rd place in the standings, with 49 points, two behind Kenya Police FC in second place.
Nzoia had a chance but failed.
Nzoia had a one-man advantage against Tusker and had countless chances, so he should have ended the fight early to have any hope of fighting for his life.
Brian Brewyer's brilliance in goal and failure to finish were the biggest obstacles to Nzoia's victory in the afternoon kick-off at Dandora.
Brewyer was left out of the starting lineup before last weekend's game against Ulinzi and reminded the Brewers why he is the No. 1 choice despite making 10 penalty saves.th One minute to deny David Simiyu.
The burly Nzoia forward won a penalty from Bouyer and ran into the box to face the keeper one-on-one, but his leg got caught in his back hand and he fell to the turf.
Bouyer faced the forward one-on-one again just before half-time and had to make another excellent save just after midfielder Chris Elambo was sent off for a second yellow card.
The Tuskers had some chances but were unable to fill them as well. Four minutes into the game, David Odoyo's sharp header from John Nguna's cross was acrobaticly saved by the keeper, but Eric Capaito was able to hit from range as he tried to attack Tito Okello and Benson O'Mara in the hunt for the Golden Boot. They took two shots from the field and shook the line, but the opponent easily held them back. keeper.
Matano makes his trademark sub
In the second half, Tusker coach Robert Matano made his trademark triple change, bringing on Kibande, Deogracious Ojoku and Dennis Oguta for James Mwangi, Njuguna and Mike Oduor.
The Tuskers are better offensively and this change creates balance in movement and space behind Nzoia's defence.
On the other hand, Tusker showed off twice in attack, but was fumbled defensively and almost conceded a goal when he was caught trying to play from the back.
However, in the end, with 11 minutes remaining, the team combined to score a goal using three substitute players. Oguta won the ball on the left and gave a pass to Eugene Asike, who pulled out Ojok. A slight touch from the latter lifted the ball away from his marker and into the box for Kibande to nod home.
This goal made the difference, and Tusker was able to grab the victory and take the pressure off his shoulders.
