Nairobi City Stars assured themselves of safety from relegation in the FKF Premier League after coming from a goal down to beat AFC Leopards 2-1 at the Nyayo National Stadium on Monday evening.
Kelvin Etemesi scored a second half brace as City Stars moved 10 points clear of the play-off zone, currently occupied by Wazito FC, with three rounds of matches left.
City Stars coach Nicholas Muyoti was delighted with the result and praised the resilience of his team.
“We gave a good fight especially in the second half and I am happy with the performance of the team. In the second leg we have been doing very well and it shows that the work we have put in behind the scenes has really been working and is now bearing fruit,” said Muyoti.
He added that the players brought in at the start of the second leg have improved how they play, hence the turn of fortunes after a difficult start to the campaign.
Meanwhile, AFC’s Patrick Aussems blamed what he called childish mistakes in defense for the defeat and says the team still hurts from their defeat in the FKF Cup last weekend, where they had put in all their hopes.
With the result, they remain seventh in the standings with 45 points.
They had a good start and gone ahead after 18 minutes when Victor Omune found the back of the net. He ran on to a long ball from Washington Munene before oymuscling his marker and sliding the ball under the keeper’s legs.
In the second half though, City Stars rallied and Etemesi levelled in the 65th minute with a brilliant goal. The forward controlled the ball inside the box, turned away from his marker before rifling into the roof of the net.
They scored an 89th minute winner, Etemesi once again pinning down Leopards.
It was another brilliant goal from the mid-season signing as he calmly collected a cross from James Mazembe before hitting a low shot on the half turn to beat keeper Levis Opiyo.
