Kenya defeated Pakistan 1-0 in their opening match of the Mauritius Four-Nation Tournament on Wednesday at the Cóte d’Or National Complex in Port Louis.
Despite controlling play from beginning to end, the Harambee Stars lacked creativity and were wasteful before goal.
fresh call In the 17th minute, Moses Shumah of Kakamega Homeboyz FC scored the lone goal—his first in national colors—to spare Stars’ faces.
Stars stayed in the opposing team’s half as soon as the whistle blew, attempting to score first. When the net was begging, defender David ‘Cheche’ Ochieng watched his attempt from a corner kick soar over the bar.
The Pakistan Falcons had their opportunity from a corner on the other end.
For Homeboyz in the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL), Shumah, who has four goals and one assist, broke the scoreless tie by eluding Pakistan custodian Yousaf Butt and scoring.
Shumah missed a chance to grab a hat trick as he failed to connect with Sakari Daniel’s enticing cross with the defence outnumbered in the 34th minute of play.
Sufyan Mohammed’s cross, which captain Bashir Hassan deflected in the 38th minute, was Pakistan’s most significant effort of the half.
Sufyan was previously arrested for intentionally elbowing Amos Nondi. At the break, the score was decided at 1-0. The South Asian team controlled the ball in the second half, irritating Stars.In the 63rd minute, head coach Engin Firat substituted more aggressive Clifton Miheso for Sakari in order to increase the number of attackers.
In the 74th minute, Daniel Anyembe was also substituted in for goal scorer Shumah, but nothing changed.
With the exception of forcing Butt to make a fingertip save in the 74th minute, captain Michael Olunga played mostly from his normal position as the number nine and did not pose many threats.
Kenya will play host Mauritius on Sunday after missing their initial match against Djibouti on Sunday.
Pakistan has already fallen twice, most recently to Mauritius on Sunday by a score of 3-0.
Yousaf Butt (GK), Mamoon Musa, Easah Suliman, Abdullah Iqbal, Ali Khan, Mohammed Sufyan, Rahis Nabhi, Ali Uzair, Haroon Hamid, Otis Khan, and Hassan Bashir are the members of Pakistan’s starting lineup.
Saqib, Waheed, Omer, Haseeb, Abdullah, Alamgir, Salman, Saman, and Adnan are available as subs.
Amos Nondi, Abud Omar, Daniel Sakari, David Ochieng, Collins Shichenje, Anthony Akumu, Richard Odada, Michael Olunga, and Moses Shumah make up Kenya’s starting lineup.
Ian, Bwire, Otiala, Kamura, Omala, Ouma, Mwangi, Anyembe, Abdallah, Miheso, Omune, Boniface, and Ouma are available as substitutes.
by: Davismbugi