Gor Mahia captain Philemon Otieno was forced to apologize to irate fans following their shock 2-1 defeat against Nairobi City Stars in a 24/25 league match played on Monday afternoon at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos.
The defending champions threw away a 1-0 first half lead as a struggling Nairobi City Stars side recorded their first victory of the season.
Levin Joseph opened the scoring for Gor Mahia in the 23rd minute but two second half goals from Robinson Asenwa and Dennis Oalo ensured Simba wa Nairobi picked up the maximum points.
The defeat brought an end to Gor Mahia’s unbeaten run which had seen them collect seven points from three matches this season (2W 1D).
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Following the loss, the travelling supporters who made their way expressed their disgruntlement after the full time whistle as they castigated the players for showing poor attitude and failing to meet the standards required for a Gor Mahia player.
“Tell these boys to stop this nonsense. We have left our jobs to come to watch them. What kind of squad is our coach fielding? We are not happy with the squad.
We don’t like the attitude of the players. A player who is tired of playing for Gor Mahia should leave. Gor Mahia is a big club. We have seen many better players than them before,” one fan stated.
Gor Mahia apology
After locking themselves inside the changing rooms, Otieno finally came out to address the fans and ended up issuing an apology for the performance.
While noting that the team felt the absence of upto five key starters who were away with the national team for the CHAN 2024 qualifiers against South Sudan, Otieno conveyed his apology.
“We had many players unavailable for selection but I cannot use that as an excuse. I want to sincerely ask you to forgive us today. It is our first loss of the season but we are sorry,” Otieno said.
Austine Odhiambo, Ronney Onyango, Sylvester Owino, Geoffrey Ochieng and Alphonce Omija werethe players missing and were replaced by Rogers Ouma, Shariff Musa, Joshua Onyango, Levin Odhiambo and Kennedy Onyango respectively.
Up next for Gor Mahia is a difficult fixture against fellow SportPesa-sponsored side Murang’a Seal scheduled for Saturday, November 2 at the same venue.
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