‘That stupid second goal killed AFC Leopards’ – Aussems after Bidco United defeat

AFC Leopards coach Patrick Aussems has blamed the “stupid second goal” they conceded against Bidco United as the one that killed their chances of moving top of the FKF Premier League table on Sunday.

Ingwe went into the match knowing a win will take them top with 39 points but it was not the case as the promoted side pulled off one of the major upsets in the top-flight so far to stun them 3-1, courtesy of goals from Alex Juma, Peter Nzuki, and David Orem.

Despite pulling a goal back courtesy of Shaka Bienvenue in the 81st minute, the result has once again left the Belgian tactician fuming, insisting the second goal made the difference as they could not recover in the second period.

What has been said?

“First of all I would like to congratulate Bidco United because they met a good game, but unfortunately we helped them, we helped them to when you are not enough aggressive in our box defensively you are finished and that is what happened today [Sunday],” Aussems told Goal after the game.

Bidco United.

“When it is 2-0 at half-time and we even had a lot of opportunities but we didn’t score and that is how we got finished, it is finished, I think we conceded a goal with only six minutes played and I guess it was a knockdown for the boys and their reactions after the early goal was not good.

“And then again we concede another stupid second goal and it killed us because at half-time if the game was 1-0 then it could not be the same because maybe we could have come back into it and move top.

“We now play every three days and we missed an opportunity to be at the top but we will work again now the league is finished for two weeks so we can now focus on the domestic cup but I have told my players we need to start scoring goals and winning by huge margins, but it was unfortunate like today, instead of the team scoring, we conceded three goals.”

On his part, Bidco United coach Anthony Akhulia praised his players for a superb display that saw his side earn revenge against the side that had beaten them 2-0 in their first-round meeting.

What did Akhulia say?

“My players played well, we knew AFC Leopards will raid us as they did and our plan was to sit back and hit them with counters and it worked for us, so we are happy with the win,” Akhulia told Goal.

“I am also happy that we are not just participants in the league because we have already sent the message home, we have managed to beat big teams even Tusker and now AFC, it means we mean business but for now we want to shift focus to the domestic cup.”

The defeat left Ingwe third on the table with 36 points while Tusker are top on 38 points.