Why Ambani is still not at ease despite AFC Leopards' hot form

For the second time in January, AFC Leopards head coach Fred Ambani has decried his team’s profligacy in front of goal, this despite Ingwe winning another game to go joint-top of the FKF Premier League.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news

Ambani, speaking after Leopards’ narrow 1-0 victory over Sofapaka on Sunday, 25 January, said he needed his players to work more on their finishing, while hinting at a change in approach when in scoring positions.

Title race spices up as AFC Leopards edge Sofapaka to breath behind Gor Mahia back

His sentiments came at the end of another day when AFC Leopards, despite enjoying the larger share of possession and goal-scoring opportunities, needed a poorly cleared set piece in the second half to finally get themselves in the lead.

In the first half alone, Ingwe, who by then had a 63 percent possession (as per statistics provided by Azam TV), had 10 total chances in front of goal, but could not score from any of their five shots on target.

Ugandan striker Samuel Ssenyonjo was among the guilty candidates, as were Tyson Otieno and Ronald Sichenje, who all saw their attempts either saved or not trouble the impressive Brian Olang’o in goal.

In the end, Leopards had to call upon their goalkeeper Humphrey Katasi to keep Sofapaka from grabbing a late equalizer, a scenario that clearly troubled Ambani post-match.

“It was not an easy game,” Ambani told Azam TV. “We got the win, but Sofapaka too had a good game and came out strong in the second half.

We could have won this game in the first half, but I would say it was bad luck. We had many chances but wasted most of them, and I think we will need to work more on our finishing.”

Earlier this month, similar words came from Ambani shortly after their 2-0 victory over Nairobi United, where the 12-time champions benefitted from an own-goal, and only utilized one of their six shots on target.

Why AFC Leopards coach is still worried despite being top of table

Then, Ambani promised to work on that end of the pitch, but the issue remains persistent.

“We have been working on it [finishing], but maybe you get unlucky, and things fail to work as they should,” Ambani said. “We must work more, but the players also need to also understand that missing chances is risky to the team.”

His solution?

“We might need to change our approach,” Ambani added. “Most of the players want to get inside the box so that they can score, which is risky. They can similarly take chances from outside, and we will work on that. Scoring early here would have allowed us to settle into the game.”

Talk of relentlessness for the joint league leaders.