Nairobi City Stars have once again complicated their chances of unhooking themselves from the jaws of relegation after surrendering their lead to draw Sofapaka 1-1 at Ruaraka grounds. Simba wa Nairobi were hoping to claw Batoto Ba Mungu and gather some steam in their march to safety but, failed to hold on their lead, to ultimately, share points with Sofapaka. Before kick off, City Stars boss Nicholas Muyoti handed Dennis Oalo his debut for the club with Simon Munala also earning his first start for Sofapaka.Muyoti could not hide his frustration after watching his charges drop points in a game that enjoyed large spells of dominance in the first half.”It is disappointing that we lost the two points. We had our moments and chances but we couldn’t fully capitalize. On the flip side, I am impressed with how our new signings expressed themselves,” he said.His Sofapaka counterpart David Ouma expressed satisfaction with the point garnered although, he admitted that, they could have done better. “Credit goes to my players for they fought hard to bag the point. The changes made in the second half made the difference,” he remarked.##NAJAVA_MECA_7088063##Andrew Kisilu would have grabbed the lead for City Stars in the eleventh minute when the ball, fell kindly on his path but his hard-drilled shot was cleared off the line by David Nshimirimana.City Stars had raided the Sofapaka area forcing goalkeeper Simon Masaka to put his body on the line and deny Ezekiel Odera from kissing the back of his net.Kisilu powerfully met the rebound but Nshimirimana was well placed to cover his goalkeeper and clear the ball to safety as well.After surviving he scare, Sofapaka tightened their rear to an extend that, City Stars found no room to execute their plan in the final third.Chances were scarce in the remainder of the half as play was largely clustered in the midfield, leaving the set of forwards from either halves to feed on scraps.The game is over and the visitors salvage a point NCS 1-1 SOF ⚽Samuel Kapen#SimbaWaNairobi pic.twitter.com/Np5t3IhAJb— Official Nairobi City Stars Fc (@NrbCityStars) March 11, 2023 Sofapaka came close in the 37th minute through Rody Manga who rose high to head home a corner delivered by Brian Wepo but the ball agonisingly flew inches wide.Kisilu had yet another opportunity to break the deadlock towards the dying minutes of the first half but was nicked in the bud by the advancing Masaka before he could pull the trigger. City Stars found the breakthrough hardly two minutes after restart through Samuel Kapen who struck from close range to take his tally in the season to five goals.The forward volleyed a loose ball in the box, beating Masaka who attempted to pull a double save having palmed the initial shot from Kisilu.Despite scoring, it was Sofapaka who looked slightly stronger and organised as the fresh legs introduced caused the City Stars backline all sorts of trouble but, there was no way through. Is Mandonga really planning to have two fights in a week?Alex Imbusia missed a glorious chance in the 63rd minute after he was put through but his decision to opt for power over precision, cost the team what would have been the equalizer as the ball went over the bar.Sofapaka’s quest for the leveler paid off in the 74th minute when Rody Manga rose high to head home a sublime cross delivered by Ben Stanley Omondi.The Congolese forward flicked the ball into the top corner, catching City Stars custodian Jacob Osano who had bailed his side earlier on, flat-footed.The search for the match winner by both teams did not bear fruit.Nairobi City Stars STARTING XI: Jacob Osano, Dennis Wanjala, Kennedy Onyango, Abdallah Salim, Edwin Buliba,Clifford Otieno, Anthony Kimani (Vincent Owino 78), Andrew Kisilu (NewtonOchieng 84), Samuel Kapen (KelvinEtemesi 78,)Dennis Oalo,Ezekiel Odera (Mohammed Bajaber 78)Unused substitutes Stephen Njung’e, Timothy Muganda, Ronney Kola,Noor Elvis, Herit MungaiSofapaka STARTING XI: Simon Masaka,David Nshimirimana, Nixon Omondi, Brian Wepo (Evans Maliachi 46),Rodgers Okumu (Alex Imbusia 46)Simon Munala,Roy Okal,Sunday Sébastine,Baron Oketch (Ben Stanley Omondi 46),Rody Manga, Stephen OkolaUnused substitutes Kevin Omondi, Jacob Onyango, Elvis Otieno, David Otieno.
