A game of chance; missed and taken. 90 minutes of tactical mistakes and uncalculated risks. An encounter filled with tension and high intensity momentum resulting to chaos both on and off the pitch. A football game defying the odds on the tactical board, being decided by a 'game moment'. Where one team breathe life through a dead ball and the other broken down to tears, all they saw was red. 

Gor coming to the game were under pressure from their fans to deliver a win after a series of unfortunate results despite satisfactory performance. Coach Neiva of Kogalo having been dealt a scare at Machakos, looked to turn it around against an opponent they have not beaten on away ground for a long time. Bandari on an unbeaten run and well rested after postponing two recent fixtures due to players and head coach on international duty, proved to be a real threat. On paper, it promised to be a game an analyst couldn't blink, a fan wouldn't miss and coaches' shouldn't flinch. 

Tactical Analysis

Bandari  FC

They set up in a 4-4-2 diamond default formation which switched to a 3-1-6 in possession with a standard defensive line height and they defended with a 4-2-3-1 mid block press out of possession. 

Gor Mahia

They set up in a 4-3-3 default formation turned 3-2-5 with a high line defensive height and 4-5-1 defensive structure high press out of possession.

The game began on a high tempo and took a few minutes for play to settle down with teams contesting for control. Bandari began on the front foot having the advantage at midfield in a 4v3 overload either from their 4-4-2 diamond or box midfield they set up using two pivots and two 10s locking Gor from progressing through the middle. 

Out of possession they had a rather passive press however it favored them due to their execution. Emoni jumped on the CBs and Beja blocked the passing lane to Rooney forcing them to either use that left channel or play long where they could contest for duels. With the midfield options man marked, either of Joshua Onyango or Sylvester played long to Ochieng #9 or wide to Bryson Wangai who had trouble linking play as the Wadri (RCM) created 2v1 with Joseph Otieno against him to block progression. 

Bandari marked man to man in midfield and zonally in wide channels. Gor Mahia found themselves in a grid lock however they kept their noses in the game due to winning duels when the balls were in the air or ground mostly in middle of the park. However their ball progression was limited due to 2v1 situations from 4v3 overload they were locked in. 

From this game state, Bandari managed to get a few chances at goal. One from Emoni bicycle kick after Caleb collided with his man in the air gifting him a chance. The other was from a direct Freekick by Ojunga which surprisingly, Gor didn't set up a wall. 

All this while, Neiva didn't react yet as he looked satisfied with his team growing into the game by winning duels and fouls to progress play.

Thus far, Coach Ken was confidently moving the pieces and forcing a reaction from his opponent. 26 minutes in and Emoni had to call it a day after suffering an injury when challenging for the ball. At this point, Coach Ken maybe in a rush or pre planned idea brought on Sakwa on the left flank and tweaked his formation to a 4-3-3 with Shassiri as a false 9 role from his #10 role in the previous 4-4-2 diamond. 

From then on, he must have regretted this decision as it almost equated to tactical suicide. Breaking the 4 at midfield, it became a 3v3 man to man situation and he stretched his outlets; Beja and Sakwa wide to open up the playing area. This worked in Gor Mahia's favor as Austin - Enock duo now had space to receive and progress play finding Ochieng & Bryson in isolated 1v1 against Joseph Otieno whom he forced into commiting numerous fouls. The momentum shifted in favor of Gor Mahia as they piled up pressure, chance after chance trying to alter the scoreboard. 

The game continued on high intensity with Gor now in control of possession. Bandari midfield was demolished with the freedom now granted to Enock and Austin, Fidel Origa having a difficult time marking Austin whilst required to offer cover for the defense line. Coach Ken became too aggressive at the touchline pushing his team to improve on their duel challenging and ball retention. In the heat of the moment, he received a caution from the centre referee after coming too strong on his criticism over the decisions by the man in the middle. 

Coach Ken had played himself into Coach Neiva's turf unprovoked. His risk to switch from his effective defensive setup to a more attacking setup costed him control and as a result gave Gor Mahia the upper hand in the game. All this while, Coach Neiva didn't have major tweaks just a few instructions to his players which was more on their play rather than structures. Coming to the second 45' Gor were still standing on business however Bandari lucky to get a few moments at goal but all futile. 

The transition strategy relied on by Coach Ken to create chances by playing over the opponent high defensive line was outsmarted by the Gor defender's intelligence to play a timely and effective offside trap which caught Beja unaware more than thrice throughout the game. 

Key Game Moments

19 minutes into the second 45', Coach Ken desperate to turn things around, opted to give away possession absorb pressure defend in a low block in chase for counter attack moments. Now in 5-4-1 low block to manage the 3-1-6 attack setup Gor had morfed into Izzadin, Majabe and Ngoto came on to help chase a goal. By this time, Neiva had rested Wangai for Bendeka to help find the goal against a Bandari low block. 

Didn't take long for the young protegee Izzadin to make an impact as he received an outfoot pass from Alvin Ngoto on the counter attack. Perfect first touch control with his left and dribbled past Geoffrey Ochieng facing the oncoming keeper Caleb. Ochieng committed a professional last man foul on him and received a red card bringing the Bandari fans to a wild roar. 

Ojunga over the dead ball with a less than 30 metres between him and goal rocketed the ball into the top right corner, well past the diving outstretched Caleb. Deadlock broken, Gor fans hearts sunk while the whole Bandari fraternity went into a wild cheer. 

Down to ten men, Coach Neiva had to react and fast. He threw on Philemon, Boniface wide sacrificing Ochieng and a shock rest for Austin Odhiambo. Play seemed to stall for a few minutes as the Gor technical bench were engaged in hushed arguments on the reason for that sub. 

Even after Simiti had dealt his coach a had blow on the tactical front, still Neiva didn't seem intent to chase an equalizer based on his substitutions. Brought on an outlet, sacrificing a creator then having 3 outlets on the pitch while set up in a 5-1-6 now relying on long balls which they either lost or didn't yield to anything upfront. 

10 minutes later, Gor Mahia slack off and a quick combination play by Ojunga and Siraj finds Wadri on the right flank who then passes to Beja on the left 1v1 on the edge o the box. He takes three touches, creates separation and strikes to Caleb's right which catches him off guard doubling the lead. Crowd goes wild, suddenly the Gor 'gada' music goes silent. 

Didn't take long for chaos to erupt as Gor fans are well known to never reacting well to a loss worse is when it's not yet full time. Fans had to all be evicted from the ground for the play to continue. 

Gor Mahia Beaten By the Unbeaten

A game that looked to have gone either way and hanged in the balance throughout the larger part of the 80 minutes I watched, couldn't have had a better outcome. The ideas from both tacticians were creative however flawed on execution. Both camps gave and gained control in rather inconsistent fashion resulting to a tug of war of some sort in the chase to win the game. I'd say, the team that wanted it more won, not largely due to tactical tweaks but the will to fight for the 3 points. All done and dusted and in the history books, Bandari extend their hot unbeaten run this season while Gor Mahia still loom in darkness over their difficult start with pressure still piling to get back on form.