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Jacob Onyango, who was introduced early in the second half, scored the decisive goal in the dying minutes of the game to give Spfapaka an advantage ahead of the second leg.
Jacob Onyango was the hero as he netted a stoppage time goal for Sofapaka to give them a 1-0 win over Naivas in the first leg of the FKFPL promotion and relegation playoff that took place at the Police Sacco Stadium on Saturday.
Sofapaka will now be going into the second leg with the slim lead, hoping to affirm their status as a top flight club for next season.
Both sides will face each other in the return leg on Jul 14, 2024 at the Dandora Stadium, where their fate will be decided.
Should Naivas win, they will gain promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history while Sofapaka end their 15-year stay in the top flight. Batoto ba Mungu were promoted in 2009 and won the Premier League title in their debut season under the stewardship of Robert Matano.
Both teams adopted a cautious approach in the first few minutes of the game, clear to make sure they were resolute at the back before anything else.
However, it was Naivas who created the better opportunities in the first half, trying to make use of long balls from the back to cushion opportunities for themselves.
By half time, there was nothing much to write home about, and both coaches needed to be more imaginative to find the breakthrough.
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15:51 - 06.07.2024
Francis Kimanzi & Twahir Muhiddin explain how Harambee Stars can qualify for AFCON 2025
Former Harambee Stars coaches Francis Kimanzi and Twahir Muhiddin have detailed how Kenya can navigate past Cameroon, Namibia and Zimbabwe and qualify for AFCON 2025.
Moments into the second half, influential winger Darius Msagha of Sofapaka was unable to move on due to injury, prompting Ezekiel Akwana into replacing him with Jacob Onyango.
Naivas would, however, create a glorious opportunity after a swift break from the back. Eliud Lokwam, who had just come on, was involved in a good one-two with Francis Nambute, before the ball ended up in the path of Brian Ouru, who hit it just wide.
They would create another opportunity as they attempted to score again, Lokwam set up Robert Karisa again, but Sofapaka’s defence cleared just in time, showing how they were really living on the edge.
Sofapaka would, however, create their first real opportunity in the 80th minute after a good move resulted in Baron Ochieng attempting a shot from outside the box which forced the Naivas goalkeeper into making an excellent save to deny Batoto ba Mungu from taking the lead.
Eventually, Onyango would put them ahead after he attempted a left footed shot, having come on the end of an Andre Kalama cross.
In the end, the goal would be enough to give Sofapaka the win, and they will now be hoping to finish the job next week.
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