Red hot Omala seals hat-trick to send Gor Mahia top of the table

Image: Gor Mahia

FKFPL Red hot Omala seals hat-trick to send Gor Mahia top of the table

Festus Chuma • 14:41 - 14.02.2023

The victory enabled Gor Mahia to ascend to the summit of the log.

Gor Mahia whitewashed Wazito 4-0 at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani on Tuesday 14 February to move top of the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) standings.

The victory moves K’Ogalo to 33 points, just two points ahead of Nzoia Sugar, who are set to play Posta Rangers on Saturday. The defeat leaves Wazito in 16th place on the 18-team table.

Gor Mahia had a dream start as Benson Omala opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he flicked a header from Boniface Omondi’s cross.

Wazito almost equalized in the 15th minute, putting together a defense-splitting move that saw Gad Matthews forced into an exceptional save to deny Collins Odhiambo, while the rebound fell kindly for Dickson Raila, but he was quickly closed down by some desperate defending.

Ten minutes later, Gor Mahia put together another great passing move which gave George Odhiambo a sight of goal from the right of the penalty area, but Ezekiel Owade was on hand to make a good low save before recovering to keep out another effort from the loose ball.

With Gor Mahia dominating possession, Wazito were happy to try and hit them on the counterattack, with the likes of Hillary Otieno and Felix Ochieng looking dangerous when given a sniff of running in behind the defence. 

However, Gor doubled their lead in the 33rd minute, with Omalla getting his second of the game when the former Western Stima man latched on a pin-point cross from Geoffrey Ochieng’ with a rasping right-footed volley.

Omalla extended K’Ogalo’s lead in the 43rd minute when he beat Wazito defender Vincent Otieno before sending the ball past Ezekiel Owande.

The play pattern continued in the second half, with Gor Mahia dominating possession, but Wazito looked capable of pulling one back.

Wazito made two changes in the 62nd minute with Felix Ochieng and Dickson Raila making way for Antony Odhiambo and Clinton Okoth, respectively.

Gor Mahia, on their side, brought in Austin Odhimabo and John Macharia, who replaced George Odhiambo and Boniface Omondi, respectively.

Wazito restored to long-range shots in the match's closing stages, and one of them was easily gathered by Gad Matthews from Antony Odhiambo.

Gor Mahia missed a chance to extend their lead after Mcharia fluffed a chance from outside the 18-yard area after collecting a nice delivery from Paul Ochuoga.

Second-half substitute John Ochieng’ found the back of the net in the 88th minute of the match to make it 4-0 in favor of Gor Mahia.

The game remained 4-0 to K’Ogalo as the referee brought the second half to a close.

How they lined up:

Gor Mahia: Gad Mathews, Paul Ochunga, Geoffrey Ochieng, Joshua Onyango, Sydney Wahongo, Peter Lwasa, Alpha Onyango, Austin Odhimabo, Benson Ochieng, Boniface Omondi, George Odhiambo

Wazito: Ezekiel Owade, Vincent Otieno, Stanely Okwemba, Reegan Okoth, Ibrahim Ochieng, Hillary Otieno, Collins Odhiambo, Collins Odhiambo, Dickson Raila, Felix Ochieng