Vincent Owino earns Nairobi City Stars a draw against Ulinzi Stars

Vincent Owino earns Nairobi City Stars a draw against Ulinzi Stars

Festus Chuma 15:48 - 07.05.2024

Nairobi City Stars and Ulinzi Stars engaged in an intense back-and-forth battle, creating opportunities and testing goalkeepers throughout.

Nairobi City Stars were forced to dig deep to rescue a point in their 1-1 draw with Ulinzi Stars match at the Dandora Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

The result sees Simba wa Nairobi remain in the fourth spot in the league standings, while Ulinzi Stars remain at 13th place with six matches left until the end of the season.

Simba wa Nairobi threatened first through their hard-running Robinson Asemwa in the opening 15 minutes into the encounter.

The 24-year-old player made a good run down the right-hand side before unleashing a shot that was well-saved by Ulinzi Stars goalkeeper Wanyika.

Mark Bikokwa enjoyed a strong surge down the left before shooting from a tight angle – City Stars goalkeeper Edwin Mukolwe made a sharp save and then did brilliantly to scramble when the rebound off teammate Dennis Wanjala threatened to roll over the goal line.

Ulinzi Stars Boniface Muchiri did get the goal he had been looking for in the 22nd minute when he fired home from range to hand the Soldiers a 1-0 lead.

City Stars then took control of the match and Wanyika became a very busy man as Simba wa Nairobi searched for the opening goal.

The bulky goalkeeper produced a fantastic finger-tipping save to deny Dennis Oalo on the half-hour mark, before gathering Timothy Muganda's headed effort.

Mukolwe then had to rush off his line to put a stop to Boniface Muchiri's run just on the edge of the box in the 40th minute and the ball fell kindly for Maina who sent the shot wide.

Wanyika continued to frustrate the Simba wa Nairobi after the restart as he pulled off a magnificent diving save to deny Samuel Kapen a minute into the second half.

With Ulinzi's defense looking solid and compact, City Stars coach Nicholas Muyoti then made several substitutions at the hour mark.

In the 71st minute, City Sats were rewarded with their leading top scorer Vincent Owino levelling the matters with a beautiful goal to make it 1-1.

Bernard Ongoma injected some pace into the hosts' attack, while Muchiri was looking to use his dribbling skills and passing ability to unlock the City Stars' defense.

However, was end-to-end stuff in the closing stages of the match as Kapen's backheel effort was well-saved by Wanyika.

Mukolwe then made a great save to deny Muchiri from close range in stoppage time and ultimately, the match ended in a 1-1 draw with Naiobi City Stars and Ulinzi Stars sharing the spoils.