How superior Gor Mahia dominated over a groggy Ulinzi Stars

The spirits of Gor Wuod Ogada nyakwar Ogalo must have smiled upon Gor Mahia on Sunday as the fans, players, and the technical bench sang the team's anthem after the final whistle. They had given a display befitting their status. That of record Kenyan champions. They played with swagger, perhaps with a little show-off at some point. It was a display that left coach Johnathan McKinstry emotional. At the end of the season, perhaps they will look at that game and term it their league-winning match if they do not stutter in the two remaining matches.

When McKinstry came into the Gor Mahia fold, not much was expected given the woes that hounded the club, but the Irishman has made the most out of a very tricky situation and now the Gor Mahia faithful can dare to dream again. Why not! With two games remaining, they hold their fate in their own hands.

In this post-match tactical piece, we set to look at how Gor Mahia put up one of the best in-possession displays seen this season. We decode how the mighty ‘Sirkal” turned on the style in their 2-0 win over Ulinzi Stars, a win that saw them reclaim the top spot on the standings with a two-point gap over Tusker FC.

It was not the best of displays from Ulinzi Stars, a side that has predominantly been known for their compact structure. But they were nothing close to that, especially in the opening minutes.

Gor Mahia set up in a 1-4-2-3-1 formation in this game and the lineup raised a lot of eyebrows with some fan favorites missing.

In goal was Gad Mathews, shielded by a centre-back pairing of the aerially dominant duo of Joshua Onyango and Sylvester Owino, a partnership that McKinstry had not used in the league. The fullback positions were occupied by Geoffrey Ochieng and Paul Ochuoga who justified his selection in this game with his proper width supply on the right side. Ernest Wendo anchored the midfield alongside Shafiq Kagimu with Austin Odhiambo at the tip of the midfield three. On the flanks were John Macharia and Peter Lwasa with Ugandan Patrick Kaddu leading the line at the expense of Benson Omala who started off the bench.

In the buildup phase, K'Ogalo adopted a 1-4-2 structure to aid in their progression and beat Ulinzi's first line of pressure. Gad would look to heavily use Sylvester on low output. This action would enable the centre back to look to progress and find the third man. The main orchestrator of this phase was Kagimu. Gor Mahia would find him between the lines where he looked to detach from Wendo. Kagimu dropped lower to receive the ball in space and through this he would be able to pick immaculate passes into the wide areas for Paul Ochuoga or Peter Lwasa in the wide areas.

FKFPL title permutations: What are the chances for Gor Mahia, Tusker and Nzoia Sugar?

The Soldiers looked to counter this approach by being rather reserved with their out-of-possession approach, looking to detach from the centre backs so the goalkeeper could play into them. Their aim was to create a 10v10. A ball from the centre back into the midfielders or fullbacks would act as their trigger to press. A good approach only hindered by the qualitative superiority Gor Mahia had in this phase, with their first phase midfielder Shafiq Kagimu having very good positioning and body orientation. His distribution was also top-notch.

In the creation phase, after the ball went wide to Ochuoga, this action would see John Macharia come inside into the midfield, a role he was outstanding in. His neat combination play with Austin acted as a major mode of chance creation for Gor Mahia. They combined well to drag out the Ulinzi Stars midfielders and looked to create space behind for advanced runners into the box.

The overload to isolate was on show especially in the first half as they created numerical superiority, especially on the left side, where quick ball progression or ball switches would be adopted to the right side.

These switches of play were applied either by the use of third-man runs, case in point was Wendo’s runs into the box and long switches or line-breaking passes played around the Ulinzi Stars shape by Kagimu.

Erick 'Marcelo' Ouma suspended for AIK's Sunday clash against Babu's Elfsborg

With Gor Mahia now playing in a box midfield, Ulinzi's out-of-possession structure looked a little vulnerable. The Austin Odhiambo show was now fully on as the midfielder looked to find pockets of space in between the lines. His progressive carries and the strain on the Ulinzi Stars' first and last lines which dragged Bernard Ongoma and Francis Omondi to cover large spaces leaving distances between the lines. These spaces were duly exploited.

During their warm-up, they worked on a situation whereby the attacker made a run in behind and then laid the ball back for a runner from deep. This was commendable as their first goal came from this instance . Patrick Kaddu was released in behind and his layoff to Austin Odhiambo resulted in a very well-taken goal.

It was a really dominant display from the Gor Mahia side, a game that can be used to market the improvement in quality of the FKF Premier League. This is a result that will clearly act as big motivation for Gor Mahia going into the last two games, not that they needed any with Tusker breathing down their neck. Ulinzi Stars, although struggling with injuries showed some bright sparks with the inclusion of Lucas Maina and Kevin Thairu who looked to orchestrate play. They will look to bounce back against Mathare United.