Tusker FC were on Saturday officially crowned the 2016 Kenya Premier League champions at the Nyayo Stadium after a 1-0 result over outgoing champions Gor Mahia.
Tusker won the title 12 days ago on November 7 after sinking arch-rivals AFC Leopards 1-0 at Afraha stadium and went on top of the table on 58 points with a game to spare against Gor Mahia.
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The lone goal in Saturday’s win that ensured the new champion’s finished their impressive season on a high was scored by the talismanic Allan Wanga in the 76th minute from a beautifully curved free kick at the top right corner from 30 yards.
The crowning was the icing on the brewers’ cake of a double win this season having already won the GoTV cup title in October.
Speaking after the match, head coach Paul Nkata expressed pride in the boys for delivering the title after a four year wait.
“I am proud of the boys who have put in great work throughout the season. We set out a plan at the beginning of the year with specific targets and I am happy that we have delivered on our promise to the fans,” Nkata said.
The tactician attributed the successful season to the hard work the side put in during the pre-season.
“We had good preparations from the start and set our targets early. We learnt a lot from the pre-season matches we played in Uganda,” he said.
Ushuru were however the unlucky lot after they were relegated following a 3-1 thrashing by Posta Rangers.
They now join Nairobi City Stars, who were relegated on October 30, in the lower tier league.
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Sofapaka were saved from a similar fate after coming from behind and registering a 5-1 win against Thika United.
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Elsewhere, Chemilil Sugar settled for a one all draw against Mathare United, AFC Leopards were hammered 2-1 by Muhoroni Youth while Ulinzi Stars beat Bandari FC 4-2.
Western Stima and Kakamega Homeboyz shared a point each after a barren draw.
Overall, Tusker were crowned champions with 61 points at the summit, seven points ahead of outgoing champions Gor Mahia who finished with 54 points.
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Ulinzi Stars came in third with 46 points followed closely by Rangers FC in fourth place with 45 points, same as Chemilil who finished fifth with inferior goal difference.
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This is how the rest of the KPL table looks like
6. Western Stima 44p
7. Mathare United 44p
8. Kakamega Homeboyz 42p
9. Sony Sugar 39p
10. Muhoroni Youth 38p
11. Bandari FC 37p
12. Thika United 34p
13. AFC Leopards 30p
14. Sofapaka 26p
Relegated
15. Ushuru 26p
16. City Stars 19p
