On Saturday, Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos hosted a top of the table clash pitting League Leaders Gor Mahia against 3rd placed Tusker. It was set to be an entertaining match considering the form that each team was in coming to this game.Gor Mahia set up in a 1-4-2-3-1 with Kevin Omondi in between the sticks looking to keep his 13th clean sheet of the season. Geoffrey Ochieng started as the left back while Kenyan International Rooney Onyango was at right back. In central defence, Joshua Ochieng was partnered with Kennedy Onyango. In central midfield, Green Commandos graduate Alpha Chris Onyango started alongside midfield maestro Ernest Wendo in the double pivot. Austine Odhiambo was the central hub for most attacking moves as the central attacking midfielder. Bonface Omondi was on the left wing, while Christopher Omondi, hoping to repeat his last-minute exploits against Kariobangi Sharks in the previous rounds started on the right. Benson Omalla was looking to find the elusive 10th goal of the season.Monday AFCON fixtures2000EAT (16.0) Guinea Bissau (7.00) Nigeria (1.18)2000 EAT (9.00) Equatorial Guinea (4.40) Ivory Coast (1.40)2300 EAT (4.50) Mozambique (3.45) Ghana (1.75)2300 EAT (7.25) (4.00) Egypt (1.50)***odds are subject to change***Tusker FC coach Robert Matano on the other side also set up his team in a 1-4-2-3-1. Brian Bwire started in goal. In defence, team captain Mike Kibwage started alongside Tom Teka as the central defenders. Daniel Sakari started as the right back, while Boniface Onyango was the left back. Chrispine Erambo was tasked with shielding his defence alongside David Odoyo in the double pivot. Fabian Adikiny was tasked with his team’s creativity as their attacking midfielder. In form man Erick Kapaito was looking to make progress in the Golden Boot race by adding to his 6 goals and started as the centre forward flanked by Levin Joseph on the left and Michael Oduor on the rightDuring build up, Tusker ‘s fullbacks pushed up, playing in the same line as midfielder Chris Erambo while David Odoyo pushed higher up. Fabian joined Kapaito up toping, playing as a second striker. With the centerbacks split either side of Bwire in goal, the structure was a 2-3-1-4. The brewers went for a more direct style of football in this match. They placed few passes at the back, before launching quick switches to the opposite flank. Boniface Onyango was instrumental with his long range passing. The centerbacks however, were not so good with their passes and this led to a lot of lost possession as they misplaced most of their passes. To counter this switches, Gor Mahia’s fullbacks often stayed wide anticipating the long ball. This strategy worked as Gor received a lot of turnovers.Match Highlights : Gor Mahia FC vs Tusker FC#SportpesaNaGor #Kogalo #Sirkal pic.twitter.com/2xdaxeskLi— Gor Mahia FC Ke (@gormahiafcke) January 22, 2024 Gor Mahia on the other hand, built up with a 2-4-3-1 shape. Both Alpha Onyango and Ernest Wendo stayed in their midfield positions looking to receive the ball from their center backs and progressing play from deep. While leftback Geoffrey Ochieng’ was a bit conservative and looked to stay wide, rightback Rooney Onyango had more freedom and sometimes inverted in to midfield playing alongside the double pivot, or even pushing up in to the half spaces closer to goal. Rooney also helped with ball progression through carries, having the most progressive carries in the game. Gor were also more direct with their play, often looking to find their out wide with long balls. Alpha was the chief progresser whether through long passes into the wingers or progressive passes into the attacking third. He played a game high 7 progressive passes, completing 5 of them. To overload Tusker’s midfield three, Benson Omalla sometimes looked to drop deep alongside Austin and this always pulled away one of the Tusker centerbacks. FKFPL Week 19 Review: Tusker stagger at Gor Mahia, Ingwe stop City Stars on their tracks as Shabana backsidesIn defense, Gor Mahia pressed in their 4-2-3-1 with Omalla looking to guide the press to one side. From there they would then try and stop the Tusker from playing the long switch and try to win the ball on that side. Their defence however was not quick to push up as they were weary of the long balls in behind the backline if they left a lot of space. The defense was also stretched widely. The main reason being the wide Tusker attack. The fullbacks had to stay wide and anticipate the long switch in to the winger. Mugisha transfer to Denmark nets Gor Mahia tidy sumTusker defended in a 4-4-2 pressing shape. They looked to press high. This was facilitated by the extremely high defensive line that they used. Fabian Adikiny joined Erick Kapaito to form a front two, while the rest of the team pushed up to reduce the gaps between the lines. This suffocated Gor Mahia, denying them space to play and forcing them into long balls over the top. Tusker’s well coordinated backline meant that Gor Mahia’s forwards had to time their runs perfectly and were caught offside a number of times. In the end,it was a more direct game with both teams playing an almost similar style which made the game more transitional and less structured. No team had total dominance on the game, with each team having their own waves of attacks. Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry will be happy that Austin Odhiambo’s well taken free kick in the first quarter of the game earned his team the three points. Austin Odhiambo All important Freekick goal for Gor Mahia against Tusker FC#FootballKE pic.twitter.com/Ylb1FTO48g— Luhya_Dollar (@Dollar__SM) January 20, 2024
