Gor Mahia head coach Johnathan McKinstry believes that, their barren stalemate against log leaders Tusker could have played to a different result had, two players from the Robert Matano coached side been sent off for committing potentially two red card offences.In the top of the table clash staged at Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the two title contenders laboured for a barren draw, ensuring that only a point remained the difference at the top heading into the last three games of the 2022/2023 campaign.Tusker maintain league advantage after barren draw with Gor MahiaMaking his post-match assessment, the North Irish tactician pointed to the two incidences he felt warranted a sending off as striker Eric Otieno was captured, twice, trying to deliberately elbow centre back Dennis Ng’ang’a.“A draw is probably a fair result and I know that we do not have VAR, but it is a definite red card for Eric Otieno in the first half. He elbowed Dennis Ng’ang’a not once, but twice off the ball. We called the referee’s attention the first time to it and then it happened again five seconds later, off the ball direct elbow to the head. If the linesman had seen it or if there was VAR, it is a definite red card,” he said.The moment Tusker’s Eric Otieno should have seen a red card.He threw an elbow to Dennis Ng’ang’a twice within seconds!#FKFPL pic.twitter.com/O1q9Fnm9ij— Ochieng’ Stephen (@soo_ochieng) May 28, 2023 “Another incident was Charles Momanyi on Benson Omala who has a scar from the eyebrow down to the nip of the shoulder from fingernails scratching his face. When he was down for a long time receiving medical attention, it was because of that. It is definitely a red card.“There are a lot of things we need to do in Kenya and I do not necessarily blame the center referee for not seeing it given it is a high pace game, but these are two definite red cards which would have changed the outcome of the game,” he added.##NAJAVA_MECA_7289638##Despite Tusker dominating and forcing Gor out of their stride, the head coach was content to settle for a point in a result that left Tusker with all the advantage in the business end.“It was a very tight game. Both teams play quite different styles of football. We try to play a bit more while Tusker go a bit direct but both teams showed some really good stuff and will be quite happy with a lot of the game.Matano throws jibe at Gor Mahia’s style of play in wake of barren draw in the clash of titansI thought we created some chances, we had some free kick opportunities, Austin Odhiambo had an air shot in the first half and there was a situation where we counter attacked but Boniface Omondi and Peter Lwasa were unfortunately on one side of the pitch at the time so there were limited options. Overall a draw is a fair result,” he concluded.The record Kenyan champions next take on Ulinzi Stars, Kakamega Homeboyz before wrapping their season against Nairobi City Stars.
