Leopards claw crisis-hit Nairobi United to go top of the table

Kelly Madada, rewarded with a start following his impressive cameo in Leopards’ 1-0 loss to Kakamega Homeboyz on Sunday, sealed the win with a dainty goal.

Read: AFC Leopards title ambitions suffer jolt

Madada received a pass from Ronald Bebeto inside Nairobi United’s box and slalomed past his marker before toe-poking the ball into the net.

The win took Leopards’ points tally to 27, one more than second-placed Gor Mahia.

Yet the afternoon had started with anguish at profligacy that has plagued their performance in recent matches. So much that their coach Fred Ambani stated after Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Kakamega Homeboyz that he will be looking to sign a “target man” during the transfer window which opened on Monday.

After the match, despite crediting the win to a “thorough tactical analysis on Nairobi United”, Ambani continued to express worry at his team’s wastefulness.

“We create chances but our conversion rate is poor,” he told Azam, the league’s official broadcasters.

“We will certainly make signings but not many players. Two or three will be enough,” he added.

The build-up to the match had been dominated by speculations on the status of Nairobi United’s coach Nicholas Muyoti, who had been said to have resigned on Tuesday.

Yet on Wednesday, he was still with the team but only until kick-off. Muyoti named the starting line-up and supervised the warm-ups. At the tunnel, ahead of the long walk to the pitch for kick-off, he charged up his players but it turned out to be his last act.

Muyoti did not follow his players to the pitch and it was Salim Ali, the Nairobi United technical director, who took his place in the technical bench.

After the match, when asked to comment on Muyoti’s whereabouts and status, Ali said, “Right question asked to the wrong person. He (Muyoti) is best placed to answer that.”

Ali had blamed his team’s loss on lack of concentration. “AFC Leopards had only one clear-cut chance. The goals they scored were from our mistakes,” Ali said.

When reached for comment by Nation Sport, Muyoti denied resigning from the club, refused to comment on leaving before kick-off, but hinted that his days at Nairobi United are numbered.

“I have not resigned. Official communication on everything will come before the end of the week,” he said.

Ingwe’s lack of sharpness in front of goal on Sunday led to Ambani tinkering with his starting line-up in an attempt to find solutions to his team’s striking problem.

That carousel saw Ambani benching captain Victor Omune, James Kinyanjui, and Julius Masaba for the trio of Ronald Bebeto, Samuel Ssenyonjo, and Victor Otieno.

Read: Chaos forces premature end to Gor Mahia, Nairobi United league match

However, it was Madada, who was filling in midfield for Boniface Kweyu, who justified his starting berth with a clinic in multi-tasking. He chased every ball and left the pitch with his second goal of the season.

Madada’s tireless running was an antithesis to Nairobi United’s lethargy, particularly in the first half.

Nairobi United, famed for their high-intensity play, had heavy feet and although second half substitutions, particularly the entry of Shami Kibwana, revitalised their performance, they never got going.

On the stands, AFC Leopards' fans mocked Nairobi United’s desperate attempts to get back in the game by singing dirges, which continued until fulltime.