A late leveller saw Harambee Stars kick off their Mapinduzi Cup with a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso at the Gombani Stadium in Zanzibar.Kenya posted a strong start to the game, bossing the possession stats and forcing Burkina Faso to sit deep in the opening 10 minutes.The bright start should have been marked with a goal after captain Abud Omar played a neat give-and-go pass with Ryan Ogam but his cutback was hooked to safety.Despite the blistering start, it was Burkina Faso who registered the first meaningful chance of the game when Brian Okoth conceded possession cheaply.Gor Mahia strike deal to sell Rooney Onyango, set to release 5 othersThe Stallions however failed to capitalize on the chance with their forward’s tame effort being palmed out for a corner by Bryne Odhiambo.Kenya Police forward Kenneth Muguna had a moment to forget at the stroke of the half-hour mark when he overcooked a freekick that went horribly wide.That was his last meaningful piece of action as he had to be withdrawn 10 minutes later after pulling his hamstring with AFC Leopards’ young sensation Kelly Madada being brought in his place.##NAJAVA_MECA_8609893##Harambee Stars finally broke the deadlock in the second minute of first-half added time when Boniface Muchiri’s freekick took a wicked deflection requiring the keeper to re-adjust himself to make a save.The ball however fell kindly to James Kinyanjui’s path who made no mistake to slot the ball home from close range and to hand Francis Kimanzi’s charges the lead heading to the break.Burkina Faso came out guns blazing in the second half, looking to overturn the one-goal deficit as they had more intent in their game.Victor Wanyama speaks on Michael Olunga’s captaincy at Harambee StarsA long throw delivered to the box almost resulted in an equalizer for Burkina Faso but Abubakar Traore sent his shot agonizingly wide.Kenya had a brilliant chance to double their advantage, five minutes after the restart of the second half but James Kinyajui’s cross caught Ryan Ogam off guard.The red-hot Tusker FC forward who is the current FKF Premier League top scorer with 13 goals had to re-adjust himself mid-air but did well to redirect his effort on target.##NAJAVA_MECA_8609888##Traore who came on in the second half proved to be a thorn in the flesh for Kenyan defenders as he again came close in the 54th minute but his effort was straight at Bryne Odhiambo.Francis Kimanzi made a triple substitution in the 67th minute, resting substitute Kelly Madada, goalscorer James Kinyanjui and Michael Mutinda for Darius Msagah, Chrispin Erambo and Mohammed Bajaber. Burkina Faso pushed for an equalizer in the final minutes of the game, mounting wave after wave of attack but the Kenyan defense stood tall.How former Harambee Stars captain Musa Otieno is spreading gospel through footballThe sturdy defense was however breached in the 90th minute when that man again Aboubakar Traore whose diving header was enough to beat Bryne in goal.
