Defending champions Vipers once again underlined why they remain the yardstick of pedigree in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League, after a gritty 1-0 triumph over rivals KCCA at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende on Friday.
Though they have played just two league matches – four fewer than most of their rivals – it is already evident that Ivan Minnaert’s charges are still the team to beat.
Their two laboured yet efficient 1-0 victories over Entebbe UPPC and now KCCA speak volumes about a side that knows how to manage games, impose tactical control, and strike with ruthless precision.
Lukwago gifts Okello
At Kitende, it was former KCCA darling Allan Okello who proved to be their undoing once again. The midfielder, bred at Lugogo, was in the right place at the right time to pounce on a gift from Charles Lukwago, who spilled Yunus Sentamu’s drive in the 32nd minute.
Okello, ever the tormentor, calmly slotted home from close range – an early Christmas present Vipers gladly unwrapped. The goal separated two giants in a game that swung between tactical caginess and bursts of attacking flair.
Vipers had other chances to stretch their lead, with Milton Karisa missing a sitter from Ashraf Mandela’s pinpoint cross, while Herbert Achayi had to produce a crucial clearance to deny Lugogo old boy Usama Arafat.
For KCCA, the best they could muster was a firm header from Emmanuel Anyama that Alfred Mudekereza handled with ease.
KCCA work cut out
After the final whistle, a visibly frustrated Jackson Magera admitted his side’s shortcomings. ‘We defended poorly and allowed them to score. We created chances that we didn’t finish off. We took a long time to understand what approach Vipers was employing. In the first half we lacked composure but came back better,’ he lamented.
Despite the loss, KCCA stayed top on 11 points from six matches, level with Police, but this defeat brutally exposed their Achilles heel – a shaky backline and inconsistent tactical discipline.
With a crunch tie against URA at Lugogo next, the Kasasiro Boys must rally their core players to rise in key moments, while Magera’s lineup selections will need sharper calibration if they are to sustain a genuine title charge.
Jogoos on cloud nine
Away from Kitende, Zeljko Kovacevic’s SC Villa showed they have the grit and guile to push the champions all the way. The record 16-time winners edged Kitara 1-0 at Kadiba on Thursday, thanks to Frank Ssebufu’s decisive 66th-minute header.
It was Villa’s third win on the bounce, lifting them to third on 10 points from five matches. Compact at the back, composed in midfield, and increasingly clinical upfront, Kovacevic’s men look like the most balanced unit so far.
Their resolve will next be tested when they host Nec at Kadiba after the international break. Elsewhere, Abbey Kikomeko’s Bul faltered in their title test, drawing 1-1 with Nec, who were under new coach Badru Kaddu.
Joseph Dhata put Nec ahead in the 27th minute before Jerome Kiirya equalized in first-half stoppage time. The result saw Bul drop to fourth on 10 points, level with Villa, while Nec – slowly finding their rhythm after Hussein Mbalangu’s exit- sit 12th on six points from five outings.
Meanwhile, Matia Lule’s Police soared to second on 11 points after a dramatic 2-1 win over UPDF in Bombo, thanks to a last-gasp strike from Derrick Maviiri, while Express, still adjusting to life after Kaddu’s departure, thumped Mbarara City 4-1 to climb to seventh on eight points.
StarTimes Uganda Premier League
Results
Nec 1-1 Bul
Lugazi 5-2 Buhimba United
Vipers 1-0 KCCA
Calvary 2-4 Entebbe UPPC
SC Villa 1-0 Kitara
UPDF 1-2 Police
Express 4-1 Mbarara City
Maroons 0-0 URA