Ulinzi Stars striker Stephen Waruru took the meat off the hands of Gor Mahia with two second half goals to salvage a point on Sunday.
Gor Mahia were headed for victory until Waruru rose to the occasion with his 10th goal of the season when he tapped in an equalizer that would ignite the violence witnessed at the stadium.
Gor Mahia conceded two quick goals within four minutes when Waruru tapped in his second in the 79th minute, barely five minutes after he scored Ulinzi Stars' first goal to help his side share the spoil away in Kisumu.
The match had to be stopped after Gor Mahia fans turned violent and hurled objects into the field, forcing security personel to fire teargas canisters to disperse a charged crowd.
Burundian Karim Nizigiyimana had given Gor Mahia the lead in 33rd before they doubled their lead in the 52nd minute through a deflection off the foot of Ulinzi Stars’s Hassan Mohammed. But the silent assassin, Waruru chopped off Gor’s double advantage with barely minutes left on the clock.
K’ogalo’s intention was clear from the opening whistle when Nizigiyimana forced across in Ulinzi’s defence that was cut off for a corner in the second minute. Four minutes later Ulinzi captain James Saruni was forced to come off his line to pick out a through ball intended for Jacques Tuyisenge as Gor continue to pile pressure on the soldiers.
But Ulinzi turned the gun on Gor Mahia with scathing attacks that yielded their first corner of the match in the 16th minute but the resultant take bore no fruit with both sides struggling to find the opener.
Nizigiyimana gave K’Ogalo the lead in the 33rd minute and he almost doubled Gor Mahia's advantage in the 40th minute but his shot from the right flunk went wide after beating a napping Ulinzi Stars defence. Gor Mahia extended their lead just seven minutes after resumption from a deflected strike.
But Waruru came to the rescue of his wounded colleagues with two quick goals to salvage a point in one of the greatest comeback in KPL in the recent past. Gor are joint top on 28 points, same as Tusker who suffered 1-0 loss in the hands of visiting Bandari.
