Lilongwe,
Saturday, 23 March, 2024
McCreadie Andias
Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga scored twice as Kenya silenced Malawi with a 4-0 victory in Lilongwe to set up a clash with Zimbabwe in the Four Nations tournament final on Saturday evening.
Starts started the party early when Daniel Ayembe squared the ball for Olunga to break the deadlock in the first minute.Three minutes later, Olunga bagged his brace from the penalty spot after sending Malawi goalkeeper Brighton Munthali the right way.
With things getting out of hand infront of home fans, Malawi coach Patrick Mabedi was compelled to make an early tactical change with Lanjesi Nkhoma coming on to bring Malawi some light of hope.
Moments into the game, Nkhoma fired a low shot forcing Patrick Matasi into a brilliant save before firing again minutes later when he capitalised on some sloppy passing from Kenya to test the Matasi again.
Kenya were forced into square and back passes with Malawi pinning them back and struggled to get out of their half as the opening 45 minutes wore on.
With the match heating up , Stars coach Engin Firat made a change after halftime with Kenneth Muguna introduced for debutant Chrispine Erambo to bring some calmness in the middle of the park.
The second half was intensive with Olunga and Johnstone Omurwa getting booked for with Matasi standing strong to save Lloyd Aaron’s penalty and retain his side’s two-goal cushion.
Eight minutes from time, Good work from Odada saw him beat two of his markers before unleashing a ferocious shot which hit one of the Malawi defenders with the loose ball falling to an unmarked Ayub Timbe who slotted home to put the result beyond doubt.
Substitute John Avire, returning to the squad since the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, received the ball and sent home a 30-yard strike to score the fourth goal as Kenya secured a third victory in nine meetings against the Flames.
The win sees Kenya set up a meeting with Zimbabwe in the final for a chance to claim the Four Nations tournament trophy on Tuesday March 26.
