The derby, the first between the two Kenyan giants this season, after the first leg meeting was postponed on Sunday, November 24th following a lack of a proper pitch that could host both sets of fans, will come after Ingwe produced a drab game in a 0-0 draw against Sofapaka on Wednesday, February 19th.
Leopards recieve wake-up call ahead of derby
Speaking after the game, Ingwe coach Ambani was at a loss for words to describe his team and further said the display had come at the right time to help him rectify mistakes before facing Gor Mahia.
“We played for 90 minutes but to be honest, I am not impressed with how we played, I don’t want to lie to you, we played a very bad game, I even wanted my team to lose, we played badly, and I don’t want to lie about it, so now we have to go back, sit down with the players, know what went wrong and then we rectify the mistakes,” Ambani told Flashscore.
“If you ask me, I don’t understand what happened against Sofapaka, I don’t understand totally, it is not always for us to play badly like we have done, it was a bad outing on all fronts, but we can only thank God for the one point.”
Ambani, who during his playing days, turned out for, among others, Oserian FC, AFC Leopards, Nakuru FC, Kenya Pipeline FC, Chemelil Sugar FC, and the Kenya national team Harambee Stars, further said he was not impressed with the entire team, saying no department was working.
“If you look at how we played, we were not aggressive upfront, we were not effective at the front, the way we always play, and at the moment when wide areas don’t want it means we have a problem in the team, we will have to go the drawing board, and check what happened, look at what we can do to improve, because if you look, we did not attack as we are used to, we created minimal chances, but we always create many chances.”
Ambani continued: “Even from the buildup we were very slow, we can’t anticipate having speed upfront when the midfield area is very slow, in fact from goalkeeping, defensive, midfield and to the attacking areas, we have a problem which needs urgent intervention, it is a wake-up call heading to the derby, and maybe these performances will help us to wake up at least from where we had gone to sleep.”
On how he feels heading into the derby with such a poor display, Ambani, who is the brother to former Tusker striker Boniface said: “Honestly speaking, it is a wake-up for us because when you play badly, you go home and think about what happened, what went wrong and what will you rectify.
“I feel the poor display has helped us because it comes before the derby, we could have gone into the derby with confidence, thinking we will go straight and beat Gor Mahia, and then we spoil things, so at least we have a challenge to go and do the things right before the derby.”
Gor Mahia have dominated the derby in recent years
Gor Mahia have dominated the derby in recent years with Ingwe mostly playing catch-up. As per the records, the last six matches have seen Ingwe manage only one win against K’Ogalo.
Last season, it was K'Ogalo who took the bragging rights by sealing a double over their nemesis. In the first-round meeting, Gor Mahia secured a 2-0 win before sealing a 1-0 victory in the second-round meeting on their way to winning a record 21st league title.
In 2023, the two sides battled to a 0-0 draw in the first-round meeting but Ingwe took the honours in the second-round fixture after beating Gor Mahia 2-1 and ended their 10-match winless run against the champions.
During the 2021 campaign, Gor Mahia emerged 1-0 winners in the first meeting before the two sides shared the spoils in the reverse fixture.
In the 2019 campaign, Gor Mahia proved too strong for Ingwe. In the first-round meeting, they hammered Ingwe 3-1 before they sealed a memorable double after thrashing them 4-1 in the second-round fixture. In that season only, Gor Mahia scored seven goals against their rivals and conceded only two.
However, heading into the March 2nd match, Gor Mahia are enjoying a better campaign than their rivals. K’Ogalo are sitting third in the 18-team league table with 35 points from 20 matches. They have managed 10 wins, five draws and five defeats.
On the other hand, AFC Leopards are lying fifth with 34 points garnered from nine wins, seven draws and five defeats. As of 2024, Gor Mahia have won the Kenyan Premier League a record 21 times, while Leopards have 12 league titles to their name.
Arguably, the real derby was born in 1980, after K’Ogalo dethroned Ingwe (then Abaluhya FC) at the final of the East and Central Africa Club championship in Malawi. Before that, the dominant match in Kenyan football shifted depending on which teams were controlling the landscape.
