Macharia, Okello bag braces as Gor Mahia ease past CUSCO

Gor Mahia cruised to the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Cup Round of 16 after a 5-0 whitewash of Cambridge Universal College (CUSCO) at the Ruaraka Grounds on Thursday.

K’Ogalo sent a statement of intent judging by their squad selection as head coach Manuel Vaz Pinto failed to rest his big guns in the cup tie against the lower league opposition.

Caleb Otieno was handed his second start in goal while the sparingly used Charles Momanyi and Fred Nkata were trusted with starts.

Vaz Pinto's charges exerted their dominance in the match as early as the 12th minute when John Macharia broke the deadlock to settle the early nerves in the tie. 

CUSCO grew into the match after conceding the early goal and stringed a number of passes, managing to restrict K’Ogalo to few chances as they went into the halftime break trailing 1-0.

Tito Okello who had an afternoon to forget in the win over Wazito FC responded brilliantly to his off-colour performance by getting on the scoresheet after the resumption of the second half.

K’Ogalo did not take their foot off the gas despite wrapping up the tie as Macharia bagged his first brace in Gor Mahia colours since making the switch from Georgian club Guria back in August last year in the 79th minute. 

Joachim Olouch who has been the subject of transfer rumours before inking a new deal this week capped his renewed contract with a goal in the 89th minute.

South Sudanese import, Okello completed his brace in the 91st minute to drill the final nail in the Usain Gishu based outfit’s coffin and make it four goals since the resumption of football and his second in the competition. 

Gor Mahia will now face Mara Sugar in the Round of 16 that is slated for the weekend of June 5-6.

Four FKFPL teams to clash in FKF Cup round of 16

With the FKF Cup round of 32 now done and dusted, focus shifts to the round of 16 that will take center stage on Saturday and Sunday.

A total of nine premier league clubs will participate in this round, with 4 of those clubs facing each other. After edging out yet another FKFPL club in Wundanyi, Sofapaka, Ulinzi Stars have another uphill task when they meet with Nairobi City Stars who edged out Fortune Sacco.

After getting a bye in the round of 32, KCB will now have to face Kariobangi Sharks who saw off Tandaza at Utalii Grounds. These will be the two games that will be hotly contested, with other top tier league clubs going into this round all with favorable fixtures.

Additional reporting by Murimi Njiru