Nairobi City Stars have advanced to the semifinal of the ongoing Elite pre-season Cup after rallying from two goals down to hold Ulinzi Stars 2-2 at Kasarani Annex.Ulinzi were headed for a 2-0 win but late goals by the battling City Stars saw them rescue a point and consequently top pool B with five points and a superior goal difference.Ulinzi, took the lead in the 19th minute through Clinton Omondi who pulled the trigger jus outside the area beating the stretching Elvis Ochoro.📷| Ulinzi Stars now in a commanding lead.Muchiri makes it 2-0 #ElitePreSeasonCup pic.twitter.com/EtLC32Z7Uv— Kariobangi Sharks FC (@k_sharksfc) September 26, 2022 Omondi who was lethal on the flanks wittingly noticed Ochoro’s poor positioning and hit the ball to the left of the budding goalkeeper who was preferred to start in between the sticks ahead of the experienced Steve Njung’e and Jacob Osano.This was the first time Ulinzi were taking a lead in a game in the tournament as they had to come from behind from.tje previous duels against Kenya Police and MCF where they recorded a 2-2 draw and a 3-1 win respectively.City Stars, who settled into the match early broke to the breather guilty of flapping clear cut chances that fell their way in the opening minutes of the game.Ulinzi Stars scored 20 goals last season.Bernard Mwalala takes over and now they have seven goals in three games.That genius from Kitale#FKFPL— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) September 26, 2022 Creative midfielder Oliver Maloba would have given Simba wa Nairobi the lead in the fourth minute after evading his markers but his hard drilled shot flew wide much to the disappointment of their technical bench who were up on their feet ready to celebrate the opener.Maloba, failed to redeem himself in the 24th minute after the ball was squared on his path but the former Gor Mahia man fired wide off the mark.Ulinzi overcame the early pressure from City Stars and took control of the proceedings with Hillary Simiyu causing the towering centre back pairing duo of Elly Osotsi and Timothy Oduor all sorts of problems.In an effort to convert the chances created, Ulinzi introduced the trio of Boniface Muchiri,Masita Masuta and Stephen Etyang for Reuben Mita, Omondi and Antonio Abwao.Muchiri justified his inclusion as he found the back of the net in the 55th minute to double the lead for the soldiers. It was also his third goal in the tournament.The dominance Ulinzi were enjoying was slowed in the 64th minute when Anthony Kimani, Ezekiel Odera and Elvis Noor came in for Daniel Odhiambo, Maloba and Samuel Kapen.The three gave City Stars the impetus to break the rock-solid Ulinzi defence but were met with equal force.However, Herit Mungai halved the deficit for City stars in the 89th minute, curling the ball that caught James Saruni flat footed.Noor would notch home the equaliser in the dying seconds of the game to draw City Stars level.
