Togo come from behind to hold Kenya in Nairobi

Hakim Ouro-Sama nodded home a thumping header in the second half as Togo came from a goal down to hold Kenya to a 1-1 draw at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi and put their 2021 Total Africa Cup of nations (AFCON) qualification campaign back on track.

Johannah Omollo’s screamer had given Kenya’s Harambee Stars a 1-0 lead at halftime, but the Togolese fought back to pick their first point in the campaign.

“It was a difficult game for us today but all in all the point is welcome. We struggled a lot in dealing with the high balls that they played, and when we ultimately managed to deal with them, it was too late. The short turnaround and the long hours we had to travel certainly affected us today,” Kenya’s coach Francis Kimanzi said.

Goal scorer Omollo said; “We definitely wanted to win at home but all in all we are thankful for the point. The group is still open because it is just two points between us and the leaders and we will continue to work and get points.”

Kenya are third in Group G with two points while Comoros have taken a surprise lead after two games, sitting at the apex with four points following their barren draw with Egypt earlier on.

Kenya started the match brightly but couldn’t sustain the tempo for long. Togo had two early chances, first David Boris Henen’s header at the backpost from Mathieu Dosseyi’s cross going just wide before Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba’s shot was deflected from close range.

The Togolese almost struck back two minutes after they had gone behind but Ian Otieno pulled a great save to deny Fo-Doh Laba who had tapped the ball goal-ward from a Henen cross off the left side.

The home side however grabbed the lead in the 37th minute when they turned over play quickly with Omollo taking a superb ht from the edge of the area coming off the underside of the bar and into the net.

They sought to keep the tempo going in the second half with skipper Victor Wanyama coming close with connection off a corner that went inches wide.

However, their efforts would suffer a bow minutes later when Ouro-Sama headed home from inside the box off a Dosseyi corner. Kimanzi responded by making an attacking change, Nyakeya coming off for Jesse Were as the tactician went for a two-man attack.

The home side piled the pressure, but was not lucky to hit a winner with Wanyama coming closest with a header that went just wide.