Nairobi City Stars captain Calvin Opollo is confident his team will avoid relegation despite being at the bottom of the 24/25 Football Kenya Federation Premier League table with 22 points.
City Stars, who have secured only five victories in their 24 matches this season, suffered their twelfth defeat on Friday following a 2-0 loss at the hands of Sofapaka at the Dandora Stadium.
Jack Ongonya gave Sofapaka the lead in the first half before City Stars goalkeeper Elvis Ochoro was sent off with a red card.
Bramuel Simiyu then sealed the victory for the hosts, doubling their lead in the final minutes of the second half, leaving the 10-man City Stars toothless and defeated.
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Reacting to the loss, Opollo acknowledged that the better team lost as City Stars dominated the game but were unlucky. He explained that Sofapaka only had two clear chances, both of which they converted.
“The match was good, but I would say the better side lost today because we controlled the entire game. We had numerous chances but could not convert. They had two opportunities and they capitalized on both,” Opollo told SportPesa Blog after the match.
He also outlined the factors that led to their defeat.
“Nothing major went wrong today, all we needed to do was convert our chances. We weren’t clinical enough, though we defended well apart from the two easy goals conceded. Those goals disrupted our game plan and playing with one man down was also a challenge,” he added.
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Coaching change at Nairobi City Stars
Opollo also acknowledged the challenges of adapting to Salim Babu’s system despite it being only his sixth match in charge with just one win so far.
However, Opollo remains confident that the loss to Sofapaka was the last one and that the team will start to see results in the remaining ten matches.
“The new coach is good but making changes mid-season is not easy. This is just his sixth match and we’ve already started to see improvements in his formation.
I can confidently say that this will be our last defeat. From now on, every match will be like a final for us until the end of the season,” he stated.
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The captain is optimistic that the club will survive relegation despite their current position at the bottom.
It’s not over yet. We’re last with 22 points and if we win just one match, we will be at 25 points. It’s far from decided—there are still 10 matches left and that’s 30 points up for grabs. We will fight for survival and remain in the league next season,” he explained.
The relegation battle is still wide open with nearly eight clubs at risk of relegation.
Mara Sugar, who are in tenth place with 28 points, are only six points ahead of City Stars with 30 points up for grabs in the remaining 10 matches this season.
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