In the presence of his father Bebe Cool, Ssali put Alex Isabirye's charges in front early in the first-half, before they conceded twice later on, at the Muteesa II Stadium, Wankulukuku, on Friday.
Despite netting his second goal of the Uganda Premier League season, youngster Alpha Thierry Ssali could not help Express FC past rch-nemesis SC Villa in the famous Kampala derby.
In the presence of his father Bebe Cool, Ssali put Alex Isabirye's charges in front early in the first-half, before they conceded twice later on, at the Muteesa II Stadium, Wankulukuku, on Friday.
Jonah Patrick Kakande and Umar Lutalo netted Villa's goals to hand Isabirye his first defeat in his first game as Express head coach.
On the evening, Ssali drew first blood in the 14th minute as his deflected shot off an Isaac Wagoina through ball sailed past goalkeeper Norman Andufindru.
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Goals from Batiibwe Okello and Hakim Mutebi ensured the Morley Byekwaso-coached side beat the tournament hosts to the trophy in front of their fans.
Villa, who were relentlessly attacking after conceding, then grabbed a leveller in the 33rd minute, through a well crafted Kakande goal.
Two minutes after the hour-mark, Villa doubled their leaded through a Lutalo penalty, after Timothy Muwanguzi had felled Ronald Ssekiganda in the box.
And despite a massive push for the equalizer from Express, Villa stood firm to claim three invaluable points.
11:41 - 08.12.2023
Kitara coach Brian Ssenyondo 'congratulates' referee after defeat to Vipers
And in the post-match press conference, Ssenyondo who had initially desisted from commenting about the referees, was later forced into a 'tactical' attack.
Following the result, Villa moved one place ahead of Express on the table as the former have gathered 16 points, compared to the latter's 13 after 10 games.
12:41 - 08.12.2023
Sports Minister Peter Ogwang forbids NRM, and other unsporting activities from the renovated Namboole
Ogwang has underlined that the Namboole pitch will be out of bounds for anything besides football or rugby once the renovation works are done.
While Villa will host Gaddafi FC in their next match on December 13, a day earlier, Express will have made a long trip to Hoima to visit fourth-placed Kitara FC.