STORY COURTESY OF THE STANDARD
Denis Oliech was in sparkling form as he scored two goals for Kenya to carve out a 2-0 win over Guinea in their World Cup/Africa Nations Cup qualifier at Nyayo National Stadium.
After the 2-1 loss to Namibia in Windhoek last weekend, Stars needed to beat the Guineans, fondly called the Syli Nationale (Elephants), to put back on track their campaign in Group Two.
Oliech troubles Guinea defenders/PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STANDARD
And it was the AJ Auxerre hitman, Oliech, who provided the perfect tonic when he raced clear of the Guinean defence to latch onto Austin Makacha’s long pass, to give Kenya a dream start after only three minutes.
Oliech, again showed his goal poaching instincts on 54 minutes when he ghosted behind Celtic defender Bobo Balde to get to Patrick Oboya’s threaded pass on the left to double Kenya’s advantage.
Then, the crossbar conspired with the Guineans to deny the Kenyan striker a hat-trick when his dipping shot on 65 minutes bounced off and out of play.
Guinea goalkeeper Kemoko Camara saved Makacha’s effort with his feet on 90th minute and soon after Kalabane stopped Allan Wanga on the edge of the box as the Petro Atletico striker burst into the box.
Guinea had threatened soon after Oliech’s opener with their star man Pascal Feindouno of French side St Etienne and Toulouse’s Fode Mansare threatening though with wayward shooting.
Dynamo Kiev’s striker Ismael Bangoura side-footed agonisingly wide his effort on 45 minutes after a one-two move involving Feindouno and Amara Bangoura sliced open the Kenyan defence.
Stars' skipper Robert Mambo in action during the match/PHOTO COURTESY OF NATION MEDIA GROUP
Ismael went closer again when he smashed a perfectly placed header against the crossbar on 63 minutes from Amara’s floated cross from the left. The miss, with Harambee Stars’ goalkeeper Arnold Origi reduced to a spectator, drew a huge sigh of relief from a record over 50,000 fans who had thronged the 35,000 seater Nyayo Stadium.
But it was the Kenyans who dared the fancied Elephants with a compact display, in the end silencing the Guineans.
Guinea coach Robert Nouzaret had to withdraw Samuel Johnson on 30 minutes for Balde Algassimou and soon after Oumar Kalabane headed over on 32 minutes.
However, the efficacy of the change was to be short lived as Harambee Stars held together with midfield of AC Parma’s McDonald Mariga , Makacha and Robert Mambo neutralising Feindouno’s potency.
Coach Francis Kimanzi seeking to plug his leaky defence started with Anthony Kimani (Mathare United) on right-back, John Njoroge on the left and Edgar Ochieng and George Owino at the centre.
The shuffling worked as Bangoura and Fode were kept in check.
Kenya now face Zimbabwe next weekend at Nyayo Stadium with renewed confidence before travelling to Harare on June 21 in the marathon qualifiers.
LINE-UPS:
Kenya — 1-Arnold Origi, 15-Anthony Kimani, 6-John Njoroge, Edgar Ochieng, George Owino, Austin Makacha, McDonald Mariga, Titus Mulama (Kevin Ochieng 49’), Patrick Oboya (Allan Wanga 83’), Denis Oliech, Robert Mambo
Guinea — 16-Kemoko Camara, 2-Feindouno, 3-Ibrahima Diallo, 5-Bobo Balde, 15-Oumar Kalabane, 12-Alseny Camara, 13-Mohammed Sacko, 18-Samuel Johnson ((Balde Algassimou 30’), 7-Fode Mansare, 9-Amara Bangoura, 10-Ismael Bangoura.
Zimbabwe 2-0 Namibia
Goals: Gilbert Mushangazhike 27, 86
The 35,000 fans shoehorned into the Rufaro Stadium in Harare were in expectant mood as this Group 2 clash between two serious qualification contenders kicked off. And Valinhos's men did not disappoint, storming to a 2-0 win courtesy of a double from Orlando Pirates striker Gilbert Mushangazhike. The Warriors now stand top of the section with four points, one clear of Kenya, surprise victors against Guinea on Saturday, and Namibia.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS AND INFO
Oliech floors Guinea
Kimanzi glad with win, eyes Zimbabwe duel
Stars need to plug holes exposed by Guinea
Scores of fans force their way into Nyayo Stadium
Africa qualifying statistics
No comments:
Post a Comment