Coming off the back of two consecutive wins heading into last weekend’s fixture against Tusker FC, Mathare United knew that they had to put their best foot forward against the defending champs at the Ruaraka Stadium but it was not all rosy.Mathare United created multiple opportunities to take the lead in the first half but just couldn’t score. At the end of the Saturday afternoon game, Mathare United head coach Samuel Koko was disappointed with his team’s offense in the 2-1 loss.##NAJAVA_MECA_7031783##“The general performance wasn’t bad but we had good chances to lead,” Koko said post-game. “I think if we convert them [chances on goal] we even lead 3-0 at halftime.“What you saw was a classic explanation that ‘if you don’t take your chances, you’re going to get punished.’ That has cost us some big points.”The Slum Boys had a golden chance to take the lead going into halftime when a squared ball fell onto the path of winger Curtis Wekesa only for him to shoot wide. Levin Odhiambo had a beautifully struck freekick palmed away by Tusker goalkeeper Patrick Matasi halfway through the first half and Steve Kimari had his shot blocked and miscued another rebound from a corner.“I think we were just unlucky,” Koko said. “And that now means that we have work to do.”For the very first time since taking over at the club, he will have a full week to train with his team and work to fine-tune what went wrong on the day.Match-fixing: Real culprits still active, says banned player“We now have a week for preparation. That is very timely,” Koko added. “Not only does that help in sharpening ourselves, but giving the boys adequate time to recover. I mean, we literally had no time to prepare for this [Tusker] game.”Having hinted about his players burning out due to back-to-backs, Koko is confident that the team will come out fresh as they prepare to take on Wazito this Saturday.
