Last gasp penalty denies Gor Mahia place in CAF CC group stage

A 96th-minute penalty was enough to see Napsa Stars seal a historic CAF Confederation Cup berth following a 2-2 (3-2 aggregate) stalemate against Kenyan champions Gor Mahia.

Gor Mahia who had a disastrous preparation for the match, landing in Lusaka, Zambia a few hours before kick-off did not show any hints of jet lag following their three-hour flight from Nairobi.

K’Ogalo who were lethargic in the first leg needed only 17 minutes to open the scoring when Clifton Miheso beat his marker on the left flank and laid off the ball to Kenneth Muguna who whipped in a first-time cross that was cleared by Daniel Adoko.

The headed clearance from Adoko however fell to Samuel Onyango just outside the 18-yeard box who volleyed the ball into the back of the net for his third goal at the continental stage following his brace against APR in the second leg of the First Round of the CAF Champions League qualifiers.

Before the dust could settle on Gor Mahia’s celebrations, Napsa Stars grabbed the equalizer to save their torrid start to the game as Danny Silavwe turned Geoffrey Ochieng inside out and delivered an inswinger that found Austine Banda totally unmarked to fire the ball past Boniface Oluoch in goal.

The frenetic opening 20 minutes was not over yet when Gor Mahia regained their lead in the 19th minute when Jules Ulimwengu laid off the ball to Clifton Miheso to unleash a zinger into the bottom right corner from outside the box.

Vaz Pinto looked to have finally got his tactics and team selection right after bringing in Samuel Onyango and John Macharia for Nicholas Kipkirui and Alphonse Onyango who had a drab game in the first leg failing to offer any creative spark in the game.

Napsa Stars head coach Mohamed Fathi who was unimpressed with his team's performance rang the changes bringing on former Southampton midfielder Emmanuel Mayuka for Bornwell Mwape in the 39th minute with Gor Mahia heading into the breaking 2-1.

Gor Mahia had a mirror start to the second half and almost extended their lead three minutes after the resumption of the closing half as Samuel Onyango was put through on goal and only had the keeper to beat but his shot was comfortably saved by Rabson Mucheleng’anga.

Vaz Pinto brought in Tito Okello for Jules Ulimwengu who proved to be ineffective just as he failed to provide the spark in the first leg.

John Macharia who had been outstanding In the game squandered a glorious opportunity in the 61st minute when Samuel Onyango found him in the box but the former Rustavi FC midfielder failed to keep his composure, blazing his effort wide over the crossbar.

Napsa Stars committed bodies forward in search of a goal that would burry Gor Mahia dead in the tie, leaving them exposed at the back with K’Ogalo mounting waves of counter-attacks that were unfruitful.

Just when Gor Mahia thought they had sealed a place in the 2021-2020 CAF Confederation Cup with the four minutes of added time already elapsed, K'Ogalo conceded a penalty when Joachim Oluoch brought down Daniel Adoko.

The replays, however, showed Oluoch getting the ball but the referee stood by his decision with Emmanuel Mayuka stepping up to take the penalty, and he held his nerve just like he did in the 2012 African Cup of Nations final against Ivory Coast to send Boniface Oluoch the wrong direction.

The game ended soon after the restart with Napsa sealing a place in the group stages of the Confederation Cup for the first time ever in history.