Kenya Police took a big step towards progressing to the second preliminary round of the 2025/26 CAF Champions League with a 3-1 win over “home side” Mogadishu City Club of Somalia in the first leg of the competition’s first preliminary round held at Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday.
Mogadishu City hosted the match in Nairobi due to the security situation in Somalia.
The Mogadishu-based team was cheered on by a sizeable entry of Somali residents in Kenya but could not conjure up a result.
Police scored through Erick Zakayo, Edward Omondi, and substitute David Simiyu on 15, 56, and 69 minutes respectively.
Speaking after the match, Police’s Burundian coach Etienne Ndayiragije expressed his delight with the two-goal advantage.
“This is a knock-out stage. I thank God we have the advantage. The aim is to overcome this stage and I think we are somewhere,” said Ndayiragije.
“I knew they would just sit back and capitalise on counter attacks as they did. I was prepared to have such opposition,” he added.
It is the first time in history that the new Kenyan champions Police are featuring in the CAF Champions League.
The team’s first appearance at the continental stage was last season in the CAF Confederation Cup where they were eliminated in the second preliminary round 3-1 on aggregate by Egyptian giants Zamalek Sporting Club.
The law enforcers bolstered their squad with 14 new signing this season, nine of them from foreign league.
They include midfielders Tobias Otieno and Mohammed Sarwari who have joined from United States’ South Georgia Tormenta FC, and Spain’s Celta Academy, respectively.
Other notable signings are veteran Kenyan defender Joash Onyango, who has joined on loan from Tanzania’s top-flight side Singida Black Stars FC, and Congolese forwards Moise Mbombo, Exauce Musuri and Gedeon Muyadi.
Eight of the new signings started yesterday’s match. Ndayiragije said preparations have been challenging for his side since most of his key players were engaged with Harambee Stars in the Africa Nations Champion and World Cup qualifiers.
“The team that started had eight new players. Our international players came last week. They have not played any game together, so I am still looking to establish a rhythm. We will catch up,” said Ndayiragije. Police would have won the match by a bigger margin had they converted the numerous scoring opportunities they created.
When Mogadishu equalised in the 50th minute their fans broke in wild celebrations with two of the supporters invading the pitch delayng the restart of the game.
The best performance by a Kenyan club at the continental stage was in the 1987 Mandela Cup (CAF Confederation Cup) where Gor triumphed after defeating Tunisian giants Esperance on away goals after both team drew 3-3 on aggregate in the final.
