Gor Mahia move nine points clear in race for league title

Gor Mahia opened a nine-point gap between them and second-placed AFC Leopards.[Jonah Onyango,Standard]

Gor Mahia opened a nine-point gap between them and second-placed AFC Leopards after narrowly seeing off Kakamega Homeboyz 1-0 in a SportPesa Premier League match played at Mumias Sports Complex yesterday.

A 96th-minute own goal by Peter Thiongo saw Homeboyz gift K’Ogalo three points as the record Kenyan champions inch closer to a record-extending 22nd  Premier League title.

Gor, who collected maximum points in Kakamega despite finishing the game with 10-men after Enock Morison saw red, sit top with 64 points, nine ahead of closest challengers Leopards.

Ingwe were not in action this weekend, following their opponents, Ulinzi Stars taking part in the mid-season FKF Cup club competition over the weekend.

The defeat leaves Homeboyz fourth with 47 points. For Gor, they might be crowned champions when they face defending champions Kenya Police on Sunday if Leopards fail to win their next match on Wednesday.

At Wang’uru Stadium, the relegation battle pitting Bidco United and Kariobangi Sharks ended in a 0-0 draw as both teams shared spoils in a result that leaves both teams still very unsafe.

Bidco headed into the match six points behind  Sharks and requiring three points to move closer to safety as they sat second last on the log with 23 points.

For Sharks, they too could have moved out of the bottom three with a win, but remain 16th with 30 points after the stalemate.

Meanwhile, defending FKF Cup champions Nairobi United were knocked out of the club competition after losing 1-0 to KCB at Ulinzi Sports Complex.

Richard Omondi netted the sole goal in the 35th minute to send the bankers to the last four.

Tusker glided into the semi-finals of the FKF Cup after knocking out Ulinzi Stars 2-1 at the same grounds.

Eric Kapaito broke the deadlock for the brewers before Staphod Odhiambo restored parity for the soldiers.

Deep in stoppage time, Ibrahim Joshua struck the winner to send Tusker to the semis.

The win boosted Tusker’s effort and drew them closer to their target of lifting this season’s Cup  and booking a place in the CAF Confederation Cup next season.

Meanwhile, AC Milan relinquished their last, slim hope of catching Inter at the top of the Seie A table as they subsided 2-0 yesterday at mid-table Sassuolo, adds AFP reports.

Milan endured a nightmare afternoon in Reggio Emilia. It took just five minutes for Sassuolo to take the lead through Domenico Berardi.

Unrecognisable and awkward, Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan side played with 10 for most of the match after English defender Fikayo Tomori was sent off in the 24th minute for a second booking.

Frenchman Armand Lauriente doubled Sassuolo’s lead in the 47th minute.

A furious Allegri made a string of changes, but Milan failed to get back into the game.