Whereas Vipers SC head coach Michael Nam Ouma believes it was a point earned, KCCA FC’s Mike Mutebi believes it was rather two points dropped as the two sides played out to a 1-1 stalemate on Thursday at the StarTimes stadium, Lugogo in the match day 25 of the Premier league.
Vipers opened the scoring in the first half through Brian Nkubi after a mix-up in the hosts’ defense but Mike Mutyaba continued his fine form with an equaliser, also his 10th of the campaign when he beautifully finished off Allan Okello’s through ball just four minutes after restart.
“Yes, our title run has been affected and we are now having 70% chances. Had we won, we would have gone up to 90% chances of claiming the league title. They (Vipers) showed intent from the word go -exerting pressure which forced my midfield to drop back. But in the second half, we played our way (offensive) and missed a lot chances. We would have won by five goals. Although Nicolas Kasozi, the day’s Pilsner Man of the match, was KCCA’s main architecture –dominating non productive Vipers midfield, KCCA will have to rue the splendid performance of Vipers goal keeper Derrick Ochan, who pulled out at least three match winning saves. For Ouma, the point gained was enough given the calibre of the opponent. “We are still very much in the race. We played well in the opening half and exerted pressure but KCCA returned with a changed formation and system which my played failed to master. KCCA are a good team and I am happy with a point,” noted Ouma, who left club lead scorer Dan Sserunkuma on bench due to team’s ‘game plan’ as he explained. The two sides played to the same score in the first round at Kitende. The 12-time champions remained on top of the log with 53 points, 4 above second placed and reigning champions Vipers SC with five games to go. KCCA travel to Zombo to play tricky Paidha Black Angels while the three-time winners travel to Mbarara to play Mbarara City next.
