Mathare United head coach John Kamau has attributed Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat to inadequate preparation.
The Slum Boys were a shadow of themselves during the defeat to Nairobi City Stars at the Dandora Stadium.
Kelvin Etemesi’s clinical strike just two minutes into the second half was enough to secure all three points for City Stars, lifting them to 10th in the table.
Mathare, despite the setback, remain sixth with 14 points from 10 games.
“We are, of course, disappointed with the outcome,” Kamau said.
The loss brought an end to Mathare’s three-match winning streak, which included victories over FC Talanta (2-0), leaders KCB (1-0) and Posta Rangers (2-0).
“I don’t think we deserved the three points. If you don’t prepare well, then you will encounter some issues,” he said.
Kamau took solace in his side’s second-half resurgence, particularly their midfield dynamism.
“In terms of performance, I can’t complain. We came back in the second half and gave a good account of ourselves. There was a lot of movement in the midfield,” Kamau said.
However, City Stars’ defensive resolve proved too much to crack.
“The opponent played with a low block in the second half, mostly because they were leading and that is why they were able to win,” he stated, even as he urged his charges to regroup quickly ahead of Sunday’s clash against Ulinzi Stars.
“We must now focus on the next game.”
Their main area of focus in training will be unlocking the low block.
“The assignment ahead of us in the next game is to figure out how we can unlock the low block to secure maximum points,” he said.
Ulinzi Stars are 12th with 10 points from nine league outings.
They will walk into Sunday’s clash off the back of a 1-0 loss to Talanta on Wednesday.
During the 2022/23 season, Ulinzi outclassed Mathare 3-1 in the first leg, with Boniface Muchiri, Enosh Ochieng and Bernard Ongoma on the score sheet.
The return fixture ended 1-1.
Lennox Kimani opened the scoring for the Slum
Boys before Peter Glen hit an equaliser.
