Murang’a SEAL edged Mathare United 2-0 on Tuesday afternoon at the Dandora Stadium in a mid-week match, securing their fourth win of the season and extending Mathare’s winless streak to four matches.
Titus Kapchanga’s first-half goal and Joe Waithira’s second-half strike were enough to hand Murang’a the three points.
The victory came after a challenging run in which the SportPesa sponsored club had won just one of their previous six matches, leaving them in 15th place. The pressure that caused head coach Juma Abdallah to step down two weeks ago.
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The central region based club dominated the early stages of the first half, but their chances were not capitalized on, making the game a cagey affair.
Mathare’s Stephen Okola had the first attempt in the 17th minute, a header from a corner that went wide. Five minutes later, Titus Kapchanga broke the deadlock to give their opponents the lead.
In the 31st minute, Kapchanga thought he had doubled Murang’a Seal’s advantage but his goal was ruled offside.
Mathare responded with a chance in the 38th minute when Kevin Kimani had a shot from the edge of the area, but it was off target.
Murang’a Seal maintained their 1-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, their head coach John Kamau made an early substitution, bringing on Paul Kinyanjui for Derrick Anami. Kinyanjui nearly scored in the 50th minute, rattling the upright with a long-range shot following a miss from Kimani.
As Mathare pressed for an equalizer, Murang’a Seal doubled their lead in the 62nd minute through Waithira’s goal.
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Kamau made further changes in the 68th minute, substituting Meshack Ochieno, Starlon Odhiambo, Kevin Kimani, and Henry Obala for Chris Koloti, Eric Mulu, Dan Odhiambo, and Sammy Imbuye.
Despite continued pressure from Mathare after the four changes, his defense remained solid. Mathare came close to finding a consolation goal in the 89th minute but an inviting cross from Kinyanjui sailed across the goal without anyone coming into contact with it.
The win lifted Murang’a Seal to the 10th place in the standings with 15 points, while Mathare dropped to 11th.
Up next for Muranga Seal is an encounter against Posta Rangers slated for Sunday, while Mathare United are expected to face Bandari FC on Saturday.
