AFC Leopards coach has bemoaned the state of the pitch in Machakos for not allowing his side to play their free-flowing game following defeat to Tusker on Sunday.
AFC Leopards coach Tomas Trucha has bemoaned the poor state of the Kenyatta Stadium pitch which he feels compromised his team’s style of play on Sunday.
Leopards saw their 10-game unbeaten run ended by Tusker FC in Machakos when a defensive mix-up saw Randy Bakari direct Mike Oduor’s corner in his own net as the Brewers returned to second place, seven points behind leaders Gor Mahia.
It was a game of few chances where neither side had it easy but Trucha feels his team would have recorded a positive result had the state of the pitch allowed them to play a free-flowing game.
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“I said to would not be too much about the game but more fight, many fouls, set pieces and unfortunately one mistake when defending a set piece and we were punished,” Trucha told Azam TV.
“I am happy for the response in the second half, we tried to score but we did not get it. Not a game of football, many falls and set pieces but this is how it is on such fields,” he added.
Tusker did their homework on Leopards and ensured wingers Hassan Beja and Jaffari Owito did not get space to run into which saw striker Arthur Gitego cut a lonely figure upfront.
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The Rwandan forward had to drop deep on a number of times with no space to run in behind the with Tusker deploying Chrispine Erambo, David Odoyo and Shafan Siwa in midfield to nullify Ingwe’s threats.
That forced Trucha to take off Owiti for Clifton Miheso while Kevin Kimani came on for Gitego as the tactician tried to employ a more direct approach.
“It was not about changing the style of the game, we just wanted to have more technical and experienced players to use some set pieces but it did not work for us,” Trucha said of the substitutes.
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Leopards, who face Sofapaka, Posta Rangers, Gor Mahia and Bandari next in the league, are eighth on the standings with 34 points.
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