Naibois bounce back to winning ways in style

Football
By Washington Onyango | Nov 05, 2025
Nairobi United midfielder Shami Kibwana in action during their SportPesa Premier League match against Sofapaka at Dandora Stadium on November 1. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Nairobi United bounced back to winning ways after humbling Bandari 3-1 in a rescheduled SportPesa Premier League match played at Dandora Stadium yesterday.

Naibois were looking to turn around their inconsistent run following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sofapaka, a result that did not resonate with their continental achievements witnessed later last month when they made history by qualifying for the CAF Confederation Cup group stage.

The newbies, who earned promotion to the top tier league this year, will face Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), AS Maniema (DR Congo), and Azam FC (Tanzania) in Group B of the second tier continental competition that begins on November 21.

Yesterday, Naibois showed their celebrations are over and they are back to business as Prince Buregeya, Enock Machaka and Shami Kibwana netted in their third win of the 2025-2026 season.

Buregeya opened the scores after six minutes before Geoffrey Ojunga drew Bandari level with a long-range shot in the 38th minute for a 1-1 halftime stalemate.

In the final half, Machaka converted a spot kick in the 56th minute before Kibwana sealed the win with five minutes left to time.

Victory lifted Naibois to sixth on the log with nine points, five points behind leaders Kakamega Homeboyz, who have played two games more.

Meanwhile, defending champions Kenya Police will be banking on new coach Dusan Stojanovic to turn around their slow start to the season.

Despite not losing a match, Police are second last in the standings with five points after one win and two draws in their three opening matches of the season.

Their slow start comes after a disappointing CAF Champions League campaign in which they were knocked out by Sudan’s Al Hilal Omdurman on a 4-1 aggregate in the final qualification round.

Police’s only win so far came in a narrow 1-0 victory over APS Bomet. They have had barren draws against Posta Rangers and Ulinzi Stars. The team’s attack has struggled to find rhythm, while defensive lapses have cost them valuable points.

Stojanovic, who took charge after the continental exit, has a tough job on his hands as he rebuilds confidence in the squad ahead of their rescheduled match against Sofapaka at the Police Sacco Stadium today.

Police will be hoping to use the home advantage to kick-start their campaign and climb out of the danger zone.

Last season, Police had a tough time against Batoto ba Mungu, who held them to identical 1-1 draws in the two legs.

The champions, however, have an upper hand in head-to-head, having won three of the nine head-to-head matches, where four ended in draws and Sofapaka won twice.

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Naibois bounce back to winning ways in style
Nairobi United thrashed Bandari 3-1 to move sixth with nine points.
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